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TICKNOR    AND    COMPANY.    Boston. 


EVERY-DAY   RELIGION 


BY 


■/ 

JAMES    FREEMAN    CLARKE 

AUTHOR    OF    "self-culture,"    ETC. 


''  Of  Truth,  of  Grandeur,  Beauty,  Love,  and  Hope, 
And  melancholy  Fear  subdued  by  Faith  ; 
Of  blessed  consolations  in  distress; 
Of  moral  Strength  and  intellectual  Power; 
Of  Joy  in  widest  commonalty  spread; 
Of  the  individual  Mind  that  keeps  her  own 
Inviolate  retirement,  subject  there 
To  Conscience  only,  and  the  law  supreme 
Of  that  Intelligence  which  governs  aill, 

Wordsworth. 


BOSTON 
TICKNOR    AND     COMPANY 

1886 


•    Copyright,  1886, 
By  Ticknor  and  Company. 


All  rights  reserved. 


Santiicrsita  ^rtss : 
John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge. 


a: 


^fficalSe^ 


CONTENTS. 


^  I. 

II. 
in. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

^  VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 
XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 


Page 

How  TO  Make  the  Most  of  Life     .    .  3 

The  Family  in  Heaven  and  Earth     .  17 
The  Religion  which  Passes  Away,  and 

THAT  which  Abides 33 

Emphasis  in  Religion  and  Life  ...  49 

Speaking  the  Truth  in  Love      ...  63 

Untranslatable  Words 79 

The  Duty  of  being  Unfashionable     .  95 

Voluntary  and  Automatic  Morality  .  113 

True  and  False  Manliness     ....  129 
The    Rudder,    Compass,    Chart,    and 

Sails  in  Man 143 

Moral  Misalliances 159 

Men's   Sins  going    before    and    after 

Them ^^^ 

Every  "  Now  "  the  Day  of  Salvation  191 

Standing  in  the  Doorway 209 

Four  Kinds  of  Piety 22o 

What  AVe  Possess  and  AVhat  We  Own  241 

What  Will  Make  Us  Generous  ?    .     .  257 

Power  and  Aim 273 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Page 

XIX.     Vis  Inertia  in  Nature  and  Life      .  289 
XX.     Think  of  Good   Things,  not  of  Bad 

Things 305 

XXI.     The  Sin  which  Besets  Us,  and  the 

Good  which  Helps  Us 319 

XXII.     The  Good  Samaritan 337 

XXIII.  Beginning  at  the  Right  End   .     .     .  353 

XXIV.  The    Heavens    and    Hells    of    the 

Present  Life 309 

XXV.     Moral  Mechanics  and  Dynamics.     .  385 

XXVI.     Transition  Periods 403 

XXVII.     Lost  Opportunities 419 

XXVIII.     The  Ethics  of  the  Ballot-Box    .     .  435 

XXIX.     The  Bible  a  Panorama  of  Life  .     .  451 


I. 

HOW  TO  MAKE   THE  MOST  OF  LIFE. 


EVERY-DAY    RELIGION. 


I. 

HOW  TO   MAKE  THE   MOST  OF  LIFE. 


O  OME  persons  make  a  great  deal  of  life ;  others 
^^  very  little.  To  some  it  is  intensely  interesting; 
to  others,  very  vapid.  Some  are  tired  of  life  before 
they  have  begun  to  live.  They  seem,  as  has  been 
said,  to  have  been  born  fatigued.  Nothing  interests 
them.  This  is  a  species  of  affectation  with  some 
persons  to  whom  it  seems  a  mark  of  genius  to  be 
weary  of  life.  They  think  it  argues  an  enormous 
experience  and  that  they  have  exhausted  everything. 
Wherever  it  is  an  affectation  it  is  a  very  shallow 
one.  Noble  and  manly  natures  seldom  fall  into 
this  pit  of  satiety.  They  are  full  of  hope  and 
energy.  To  them  life  has  inexhaustible  charms. 
It  is  ever  more  rich,  full,  and  varied.  Each  day 
dawns  with  new  expectations,  and  closes  with  fresh 
hopes  for  to-morrow.     And  it  is  these  living  men 


4  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

who  keep  the  rest  of  us  alive.  Wlienever  we  meet 
them  more  sunshine  comes  into  the  day.  Let  us 
only  share  their  enthusiasm,  and  we  too  cannot 
help  making  a  great  deal  of  life. 

How  full  and  rich  was  the  character  of  the  Apostle 
Paul !  How  much  he  made  out  of  his  years  !  He 
stands,  like  the  Mlometer  in  Egypt,  to  tell  how  high 
the  river  of  Thought,  Love,  and  Will  may  rise.  He 
changed  Christianity,  before  only  a  Jewish  sect,  into 
a  universal  religion,  a  faith  for  mankind.  Though 
he  had  never  seen  Jesus  on  earth,  and  never 
heard  his  teaching,  he  understood  the  Master  better 
than  those  who  had  been  with  him.  Paul  could  not 
write  a  gospel,  but  he  comprehended  the  Gospels 
more  truly  than  those  who  wrote  them.  He  labored 
more  abundantly  than  they  all.  He  passed  through 
more  trials  than  any  of  the  other  apostles.  He 
planted  more  churches,  took  more  journeys,  wrote 
more  letters ;  his  life  was  outwardly  full  of  work. 
But  besides  this,  it  was  a  life  of  thought,  of  deep 
reflection.  His  discussions  about  spiritual  and 
moral  truths,  as  recorded  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Eomans,  take  us  down  to  the  roots  of  things.  He 
grappled  with  the  primary  problems  of  thought. 
He  soared  upward,  like  a  flame,  to  the  highest 
heaven  of  devotion,  to  the  presence  of  God,  where 
angels  and  archangels  veil  their  faces.  But  this 
did  not  content  him;  perpetual  progress  was  his 
life.  "  One  thing  I  do  :  forgetting  what  is  behind, 
and  reaching  out  to  that  which  is  before,  I  press 


HOW  TO  MAKE  THE  MOST  OF  LIFE.         5 

toward  the  mark."  If  we  ask  how  it  was  that  Paul 
made  so  much  of  his  life,  —  omitting  the  question- 
able point  of  his  inspiration,  —  I  think  we  may  say 
it  was  the  enthusiasm  of  his  love,  which  took  him 
out  of  himself  in  devotion  to  his  great  Master. 

This,  then,  is  the  first  rule  for  makincr  the  most 
of  life  :  Forget  yourself  in  some  interest  outside  of 
yourself.  He  who  is  turned  inward,  thinking  of 
himself,  admiring  himself,  complaining  that  he  is 
ill-treated ;  he  who  thinks  he  ought  to  have  more 
of  the  rewards  of  life,  —  he  is  the  one  who  does  not 
begin  to  live.  Life  is  born  out  of  communion, — 
communion  with  God,  Nature,  man.  "We  only 
live,"  says  the  profound  thinker,  the  philosopher 
Fichte,  —  "  we  only  live  when  we  love  ! "  How  true 
that  is  !  We  must  be  interested  in  something  in  order 
to  be  alive,  and  no  one  can  take  a  great  deal  of  inter- 
est in  himself.  Looking  in  the  glass  is  an  unprofit- 
able occupation.  Socrates,  indeed,  taught,  "  Know 
thyself;"  but  the  self-knowledge  which  he  advised 
did  not  consist  in  minute  self-inspection,  but  in 
testing  thought  and  work  by  that  which  other 
men  think  and  do.  Socrates  did  not  occupy  him- 
self with  self-study,  but  went  about  the  streets 
of  Athens  taking  an  interest  in  all  that  was 
thou£^ht,  said,  and  done.  He  was  interested  in 
others,  —  in  the  condition  of  the  State,  the  jDrogress 
of  truth,  the  diet  of  the  soul,  the  stimulus  of  good- 
ness, the  restraints  on  evil  How  men  could  be 
made   better  and  wiser,  —  that  was  what  engaged 


6      ■  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

his  whole  thought,  and  this  made  his  life  one  which 
has  been  the  inspiration  of  mankind. 

But,  you  may  say,  we  cannot  all  be  inspired 
apostles  or  great  philosophers.  No ;  but  the  mo- 
tive, the  principle  which  made  their  lives  rich,  we 
can  have  in  ours.  Tliis  principle  is,  to  be  interested 
in  something  good;  to  have  an  object,  an  aim,  a 
purpose  outside  of  ourselves. 

In  the  great  storms  which  have  lately  swept  over 
the  north  Atlantic,  a  steamer  from  our  shores  dis- 
covered another,  dismasted  and  rudderless,  drifting 
before  the  gale,  its  decks  swept  by  terrible  seas. 
The  sailors  volunteered  to  man  a  boat,  and  go  to  save 
those  on  the  wreck.  The  labor  was  appalliog,  the 
dangers  frightful ;  but  they  succeeded,  and  saved 
the  lives  of  their  fellow-men.  Which  has  made 
the  noblest  use  of  life,  the  self-indulgent  epicurean, 
who  amuses  himself  with  a  little  art,  a  little  litera- 
ture, a  little  criticism  and  a  little  vapid  social 
pleasure,  or  these  rugged,  brave  hearts,  who  bade 
defiance  to  storm  and  sea,  and  brought  salvation  to 
those  in  despair  ?  To  forget  yourself  is  the  secret 
of  life ;  to  forget  yourself  in  some  worthy  purpose 
outside  of  yourself. 

The  poor  steamer  foundered  because  it  drifted ; 
because  its  steering  apparatus  was  lost.  The  man 
who  has  no  aim  higher  than  himself  also  drifts ;  he 
has  nothing  by  which  to  steer,  notliing  toward  which 
to  direct  his  life.  Do  not  drift,  hut  steer ;  that  is 
the  second  rule. 


HOW  TO  MAKE   THE  MOST  OF  LIFE.         7 

Consider  the  life  of  a  man  like  Agassiz,  filled 
with  an  enthusiastic  desire  to  know  all  the  secrets 
of  Nature.  He,  also,  like  Paul,  never  counted  him- 
self to  have  apprehended.  He  forgot  what  was 
behind,  and  reached  out  to  that  which  was  before. 
His  life  was  full  and  rich,  and  he  made  the  most  of 
it.  He  worshipped  God  in  the  temple  of  creation. 
How  happy  he  was  in  this  immense  love  for  ]N"a- 
ture !  NothiuQj  in  her  works  was  too  minute  to 
interest  him,  for  everything  was  significant.  At 
one  end  of  the  scale  of  human  existence  stands  the 
blase  man  of  the  world,  to  whom  nothing  seems  of 
much  importance.  At  the  other  end  is  a  man  like 
Agassiz,  to  whom  nothing  is  ?^Tiimportant.  To  him, 
everything  which  has  been  made  has  a  meaning; 
thus  he  lives  in  a  world  in  which  he  sees  nothing 
insignificant. 

These  men,  however,  it  may  be  said,  were  enthu- 
siasts ;  they  had  enthusiasm  for  some  pursuit,  to 
which  they  devoted  themselves.  But  most  of  us 
are  of  a  more  plain,  common-sense,  practical  nature. 
They  are  no  models  for  us.     They  are  inimitable. 

Then  let  us  look  at  a  man  of  another  type,  who 
certainly  was  not  an  enthusiast,  yet  who  made  more 
of  his  life,  did  more,  learned  more,  than  any  man  of 
his  generation.  I  mean  Benjamin  Franklin.  He 
was  clear-headed  and  sagacious ;  but  that  is  not  the 
key  to  his  remarkable  career.  I  think  the  secret 
of  his  vast  success  was  that  he  did  everything  as 
well  as  it  could  be  done.     He  put  his  mind  into 


8  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

his  work.  His  motto  might  have  been,  "What- 
ever thy  hand  finds  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might." 
He  prized  the  present  moment,  and  gave  his  whole 
thought  to  it.  Most  of  us  do  a  great  many  things 
mechanically,  satisfied  if  we  do  as  well  as  others, 
no  worse  than  the  majority,  so  as  not  to  risk  much 
loss  or  incur  much  blame.  The  power  of  Frank- 
lin lay  in  this ;  that  whatever  his  hand  found  to 
do,  he  did  it  with  his  might.  He  did  not  wait 
till  to-morrow  to  do  something,  but  did  what  his 
hand  found  to-day.  It  is  surprising  how  little  he 
had  of  what  is  called  ambition.  It  seemed  to 
make  very  little  difference  to  him  what  he  did,  or 
where  he  was.  He  drifted  to  Philadelphia,,  but 
when  there  he  did  not  drift,  but  steered.  He  took 
the  first  decent  work  which  he  could  find,  and 
did  it  with  his  might.  The  Governor  of  the 
Province  proposed  to  him  to  go  to  London,  prom- 
ising to  help  him  to  buy  a  printing-press,  that  he 
might  do  the  public  printing.  After  Franklin 
had  gone  the  Governor  forgot  his  promise.  But  it 
made  little  difference  to  Franklin.  Being  in  Lon- 
don, he  went  to  work  as  a  printer,  and  there  he 
remained  till  some  occasion  sent  him  back  again 
to  this  country.  Prudent,  economical,  industrious, 
watchful,  he  could  not  help  growing  rich.  But  he 
does  not  seem  to  have  cared  much  about  that. 
What  he  wished  was  to  find  all  the  secrets  of  the 
work  he  was  doing,  finish  it  in  the  best  way,  and  to 
teach  others  how  to  do  things  well.     In  his  shop  in 


HOW  TO  MAKE  THE  MOST  OF  LIFE.         9 

Philadelphia,  in  a  printing-office  in  London,  ambas- 
sador at  the  court  of  Louis  XVI.,  conversing  with 
British  statesmen  and  philosophers,  he  was  the 
same, — a  wide-awake  person,  with  his  mind  keenly 
fixed  on  the  thing  nearest  him.  He  did  not  worry 
about  possible  future  evils,  nor  torment  himself 
about  an  irrevocable  past.  He  p«ut  his  whole  soul 
into  the  present  moment,  the  work  just  at  hand. 
He  gave  as  earnest  thought  to  the  methods  of  his 
society  of  young  men  in  Philadelphia  for  study 
and  discussion,  as  to  a  treaty  with  France  or  the 
formation  of  the  American  Constitution.  Each 
thinof  as  it  came,  took  his  whole  mind,  heart, 
and  strength.  That  was  why  he  did  so  much.  He 
lived,  as  has  been  said,  in  the  whole.  Most  of  us 
are  very  apt  to  live  in  the  half  We  put  part  of 
our  mind  into  our  present  work ;  with  the  rest  of 
our  mind  we  are  worrying  about  the  past  or  the 
future,  or  imagining  what  other  better  things  we 
might  be  doing.  So  we  work  in  a  half-and-half 
way.  Do  with  your  might  what  your  hand  finds 
to  do;  that  is  our  third  rule. 

A  habit  of  mind  which  interferes  with  this  con- 
centration of  faculty  on  the  present  is  that  of  laying 
too  much  stress  on  public  opinion,  and  of  troubling 
ourselves  in  regard  to  what  others  will  think  about 
us.  One  of  the  good  things  that  Garfield  said  was 
this:  "I  do  not  much  care  what  others  think  or  say 
about  me,  but  there  is  one  man's  opinion  about  me 
which  I  very  much  value ;  that  is  the  opinion  of 


10  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

James  Garfield.  Others  I  need  not  think  about. 
I  can  get  away  from  them ;  but  I  have  to  be  with 
Jmn  all  the  time.  He  is  with  me  when  I  rise  up 
and  when  I  lie  down,  when  I  eat  and  talk,  when 
I  0-0  out  and  when  I  come  in.  It  makes  a  great 
difference  wdiether  he  thinks  well  of  me  or  not." 

Garfield  also  had  the  power  of  doing  with  his 
might  whatever  his  hand  found  to  do.  He  began 
life  a  poor  boy,  wholly  dependent  on  his  own  efforts. 
He  went  to  Hiram  College  when  quite  young,  hardly 
able  to  support  himself  there,  but  full  of  courage, 
hope,  determination  to  learn  all  he  could,  and  to 
use  all  his  opportunities.  He  had  the  good  fortune 
to  meet  in  that  place  with  one  of  those  women  who 
help  young  men  to  choose  the  right  way  in  life ;  to 
look  up  instead  of  down;  to  have  faith  in  Provi- 
dence and  in  themselves ;  to  aim  at  what  is  great 
and  noble,  not  to  condescend  to  the  current  of 
trivial  opinion,  or  be  drawn  away  by  it.  Having 
the  happiness  to  know  such  a  woman  (her  name  was 
Almeda  Booth),  he  had  the  good  sense  to  appreciate 
her  worth,  and  to  be  led  by  her  advice  and  example. 
This  saved  him  from  bad  influence,  from  common- 
place dissipation,  from  wasting  his  time,  and  kept 
permanently  before  his  soul  the  ideal  of  making 
of  himself  all  he  could.  His  three  ruling  thoughts 
were  patience,  labor,  faith.  When  he  began  to  teach 
school,  he  made  in  his  mind  an  imaginary  map  of 
the  school,  with  each  boy  in  his  place.  Then  he 
thought   about    each    boy   separately,   and    asked. 


HOW  TO  MAKE   THE  MOST  OF  LIFE.       11 

"  What  can  I  do  for  Johnny  Smith  ?  What  sort 
of  a  boy  is  he  ?  What  does  he  need  most  ?  "  He 
taught  school  with  his  might.  He  said,  ''Unless 
one  believes  in  something  far  higher  than  him- 
self he  will  fail."  On  the  one  hand  he  deter- 
mined not  to  be  an  office-seeker  or  a  place-hunter, 
and  to  believe  that  if  he  ought  to  have  anything, 
God  would  send  it.  But  this  did  not  lead  him  to 
trust  to  chance,  for  he  also  said,  "Things  do  not 
turn  up  in  this  world.  Some  one  must  turn  them 
up."  "  Observe  all  things,"  he  said  ;  "  question  all 
men."  He  had  the  good  sense  to  know  when 
he  found  a  master  from  wdiom  he  could  learn  any- 
thing good.  Such  a  master  he  found  in  President 
Hopkins.  "  Give  me  a  log-hut,"  he  said,  "  with  one 
bench  in  it.  Let  Mark  Hopkins  be  at  one  end  and 
I  at  the  other,  and  I  would  rather  have  that  for  my 
college  than  all  your  buildings,  libraries,  and  pro- 
fessors without  him."  When  he  went  to  Congress, 
when  he  was  in  the  war,  when  he  taught  school,  it 
was  always  the  same.  He  put  his  whole  soul  into 
whatever  he  did.  Whatever  his  hand  found  to  do, 
he  did  with  all  his  might. 

The  secret  of  Garfield  was  very  much  the  same 
as  that  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  I  once  had  a  long 
day's  talk  about  Abraham  Lincoln  with  a  friend  in 
Kentucky,  who  had  lived  in  intimate  relation  with 
Lincoln  when  the  latter  was  a  young  lawyer  in 
Springfield,  just  beginning  business.  He  said  that 
Lincoln  gave  to  every  case  he  took  his  whole  interest 


12  E VERT-DAY  RELIGION. 

and  attention.  Once  he  had  to  argue  a  case  in 
which  all  depended  on  finding  the  right  boundary 
for  a  piece  of  land  on  the  prairie.  There  are  no 
stones  there  for  boundaries,  and  few  trees,  so  the 
surveyors  were  in  the  habit  of  indicating  the  corners 
of  the  lots  by  shovelling  up  a  little  heap  of  earth. 
But  it  happens  that  a  prairie  squirrel,  or  gopher, 
does  the  same  thing.  Hence  it  becomes  important 
to  distinguish  between  the  mounds  made  by  the 
surveyor  and  those  made  by  the  gopher.  Lincoln 
sent  to  New  York  for  books  which  would  tell  him 
of  the  habits  of  the  gopher,  brought  them  into 
court,  showed  the  judge  and  jury  how  the  gopher 
built  his  mound,  how  it  differed  from  that  of  the 
surveyor,  and  after  he  had  won  his  case,  sat  up  late 
in  the  night  still  studying  about  the  gopher,  so  as 
to  be  sure  to  know  all  about  him.  He,  also,  did 
with  his  might  what  he  had  to  do. 
Such  men  are  not 

"  Longing,  not  forever  sighing 
For  the  far-off,  the  unattained,  the  dim." 

They  take  what  their  hand  finds,  as  sent  to  them  by 
God,  —  the  duty  of  the  hour,  the  simple  pleasures, 
innocent  and  pure,  of  common  things  which  round 
us  lie.  Mr.  Emerson  said  in  his  first  book:  "Give 
me  health  and  a  day,  and  I  will  make  the  pomp  of 
emperors  ridiculous.  The  dawn  is  my  Assyria ;  the 
sunset  and  moonrise  my  Paphos  and  fairy-realm  ; 
broad  noon  my  England  of  the  senses  and  under- 


HOW  TO  MAKE   THE  MOST  OF  LIFE.        13 

standing :  the  night  shall  be  my  Germany  of  poetic 
philosophy  and  dreams." 

Kalph  Waldo  Emerson  is  another  striking  in- 
stance in  our  times  of  a  man  who  made  the  most 
of  life.  He  proved  the  truth  of  his  own  saying, 
"  Let  the  single  man  plant  himself  on  his  instincts, 
and  the  huge  \vorld  will  come  round  to  him." 
He  had  two  leading  ideas,  by  which  he  lived,  and 
which  he  taught  to  his  age.  One  of  them  was 
"  Self-reliance,"  the  otlier  "  God-reliance."  Trust  in 
your  own  deep  and  permanent  convictions,  though 
the  whole  world  insist  that  you  are  wrong.  "  Call 
a  pop-gun  a  pop-gun,  though  the  ancient  and  hon- 
orable declare  it  to  be  the  crack  of  doom."  He 
believed  in  that  which  was  hii:?hest,  and  did  that 
which  was  nearest,  following  the  suggestive  lines 
of  Wordsworth  :  — 

"  The  primal  duties  shine  aloft  like  stars  ; 
The  charities  which  soothe  and  bless  and  save, 
Are  scattered  at  the  feet  of  man  like  flowers." 

Pursuing  his  own  way  quietly,  trusting  in  the  in- 
tuitions of  his  soul,  saying  his  own  words,  not  those 
of  any  one  else,  accepting  the  present  moment  with 
its  immediate  inspiration,  and  believing  in  an  over- 
hanging heaven  and  an  infinite  spiritual  presence, 
Emerson  did  with  his  mio-ht  what  his  hand  found 

o 

to  do,  and  saw  the  great  world  come  round  to  him. 
Trust  in  God  and  your  own  soul,  is  the  fourth 
rule. 


14  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

I  have  described  conspicuous  persons,  because  in 
such  lives  principles  of  action  are  made  most  evi- 
dent. But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  they  have 
any  monopoly  of  this  "  Art  of  life."  If  you  will  only 
consider,  you  will  remember  many  a  person  of  whom 
the  world  never  heard  and  will  never  hear,  whose 
years  have  been  as  full  of  generosity,  loyalty  to 
duty,  faith  in  God,  fidelity  to  every  day's  work,  as 
those  of  Franklin  or  Garfield,  Lincoln  or  Emerson. 
They,  also,  have  put  their  hands  to  the  plough  and 
have  not  looked  back.  Having  made  up  their 
minds  to  what  ought  to  be  done,  they  did  not  hesi- 
tate, did  not  procrastinate,  did  not  worry  or  grow 
anxious,  but  faitlifully  performed  the  duty  of  the 
hour.  They  had  faith  in  Providence,  and  so  did 
with  their  might  what  their  hands  found  to  do. 
They  gave,  and  it  was  given  to  them  again,  ''  full 
measure,  pressed  down  and  running  over."  They 
did  good,  hoping  for  nothing  again,  and  the  reward 
came  in  lives  full  of  content ;  in  cheerfulness,  peace, 
and  satisfaction. 


II. 


THE  FAMILY  IN  HEAVEN  AND 
EARTH. 


II. 

THE  FAMILY  IN  HEAVEN  AND  EARTH. 


THE  doctrine  of  Correspondences,  as  taught  by 
Swedenborg,  contains  much  truth.  This,  at 
least,  is  true,  that  there  is  not  only  a  resemblance 
between  material  and  spiritual  things,  but  that  the 
one  is  the  natural  sign  of  the  other.  The  facts 
of  outward  nature  signify  other  facts  of  the  soul. 
Thus,  in  all  languages,  light  stands  for  knowledge. 
We  speak  of  brilliant  ideas,  an  ilkiminated  intellect, 
the  shining  forth  of  truth.  So  heat,  in  all  time,  has 
signified  affection,  or  feeling.  "We  say  warm  affec- 
tions, hot  desires,  burning  love,  fiery  passions,  and 
the  like.  In  the  same  way  physical  forces  in  the 
outward  world  correspond  to  will,  purpose,  deter- 
mination of  spirit.  We  say  an  iron  will,  a  strong 
purpose,  a  powerful  determination.  The  three 
dimensions  of  space  —  height,  depth,  and  width  — 
are  types  of  aspiration,  of  refi.ection,  and  of  expe- 
rience. We  say  deep  thoughts,  lofty  purposes,  a 
broad  experience.  This  is  what  is  meant  by  types. 
The  physical  world  is  full  of  types  of  the  mental 
world.     We  use  these  symbolic  expressions  many 

2 


18  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

times  a  day,  and  we  never  confound  them  together. 
We  do  not  say  hot  ideas,  but  hot  passions ;  we  do 
not  compare  a  man's  thoughts  to  a  rock,  but  his 
firmness  of  purpose  we  say  is  like  a  rock.  Thus 
the  visible  heaven  and  earth  around  us  are  types 
of  the  invisible  world  within  us.  I  do  not  see 
the  value  of  all  of  Swedenborg's  correspondences. 
When  he  says  that  a  cloud  means  divine  truth  in 
the  ultimates,  or  that  a  horse  means  meditation  on 
the  word,  I  am  not  able  to  understand  him.  But  I 
can  easily  believe  that  the  whole  outward  universe 
is  the  expression  of  God's  thoughts,  and  can  say 
with  Milton,— 

"  What  if  earth 
Be  but  the  shadow  of  heaven,  and  thmgs  therein 
Each  to  the  other  like,  more  than  below  is  thought  ?  " 

One  of  these  analogues  is  the  human  body  as  a 
type  of  that  social  body  which  we  call  the  State. 
The  human  body  is  composed  of  little  cells ;  and 
so  society  is  composed  of  families.  The  family  is 
to  the  State  what  the  cell  is  to  the  body.  And 
then  as  each  type  may  suggest  again  another  and 
higher  resemblance,  the  human  family  becomes  the 
tyjoe  of  the  religious  communion  of  souls. 

"  The  whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth."  When 
the  Apostle  Paul  said  that,  he  had  a  wonderful 
vision  of  the  future.  That  all  this  earth  should 
be  one,  human  nature  one,  mankind  one  family,  — 
that  was  a  new  idea,  and  a  vast  one. 


TEE  FAMILY  IN  HEAVEN  AND  EARTH.    19 

Christianity  came  to  make  mankind  one.  At  the 
very  first  we  notice  this  approaching  unity.  "  The 
multitude  of  those  who  believed  were  of  one  heart 
and  one  soul ;  neither  said  they  that  anything 
they  possessed  was  their  own,  but  they  had  all 
things  common."  There  were  men  of  many  races, 
"  Parthians,  Medes,  Elamites,  dwellers  in  Mesopo- 
tamia, in  Pontus  and  Phrygia,  Greeks,  and  Eomans." 
But  the  power  of  divine  and  human  love  had  made 
of  them  a  family.  The  partition  walls  of  race, 
nation,  color,  fell  down,  and  they  became  in  spirit 
one. 

But  Paul's  wonderful  vision  did  not  stop  there.  It 
was  not  only  a  family  on  earth,  created  by  Christ, 
but  also  a  family  in  heaven  ;  one  and  the  same ;  a 
vast  family  of  the  redeemed  above  and  below. 

But  to  have  one  family  we  must  have  many  fami- 
lies. As  the  life  of  the  tree  consists  of  life  in  innu- 
merable buds,  as  the  life  of  the  body  is  made  up  of 
innumerable  living  cells,  so  the  family  on  earth  is 
made  up  of  innumerable  families.  The  family  in 
heaven,  according  to  this  law,  must  also  be  made 
up  of  innumerable  families.  Earthly  life  is  the 
type  of  heavenly  life.  If  we  would  know  what 
the  life  is  there,  we  must  look  at  the  best  life  here. 
A  true,  ideal  family  on  earth  is  the  type  of  heaven. 
Let  us,  then,  ask  what  is  the  highest  form  of  family 
life  below.     What  is  an  ideal  family  ? 

The  ideal  family  is  one  in  wliich  there  is  the 
father  and  mother,  the  brothers  and  sisters,  the  aged 


20  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

grandfather  and  grandmother,  the  infant  in  its  cra- 
dle, the  kind  aunts  and  uncles  and  cousins.  So  tlie 
family  is  formed,  having  a  life  of  its  own,  —  many 
members,  but  one  body. 

This  family  is  full  of  love.  All  the  members  are 
mutually  attached  and  dependent.  Each  cares  for 
the  other.  They  have  their  separate  interests  and 
work,  but  they  bring  together  the  results  of  what 
they  think  and  do.  They  go  out  for  their  various 
occupations,  but  come  back  to  repose  and  rest  in  a 
mutual  interest  and  a  mutual  trust. 

The  family  also  is  an  ideal  one  when  it  is  per- 
vaded by  ideas.  If  we  enter  a  home  where  there 
are  aspirations,  hopes,  generous  thoughts,  interest 
in  great  themes,  care  for  others,  then  family  life 
begins  to  be  glorified,  and  to  take  on  the  character 
of  a  Christian  church. 

How  happy  is  the  child  who  grows  up  in  a  com- 
plete family ;  who  is  surrounded  by  loving  care  from 
the  beginning;  who  has  not  only  the  father  and 
mother  always  near,  but. sees  around  brothers  and 
sisters  and  cousins ;  uncles  and  aunts ;  relatives, 
neighbors,  friends  !  He  has  already  in  his  soul  a 
type  of  the  true  church  and  the  coming  heaven. 

But  more  is  needed  to  make  a  true  family.  A 
home  is  needed.  The  faniily  in  heaven  and  earth 
needs  a  home. 

What  is  a  home  ?  It  is  a  place  made  sacred  by 
happy  associations ;  it  is  comfort,  safety,  a  retreat 
from  outside  trouble ;  it  is  the  region  where  peace 


THE  FAMILY  IN  HEAVEN  AND  EARTH.     21 

should  always  abide.  Such  a  home  every  family 
needs. 

Three  things  go  to  make  a  home.  These  three 
are,  first,  the  roof;  second,  the  table;  third,  the 
parlor. 

There  is  the  roof —  that  is,  the  home  as  shelter. 
The  first  thinsj  which  we  see  around  us  as  children 
is  this  shelter.  The  foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds 
have  nests,  but  man  has  more ;  his  home  is  shelter, 
security,  peace,  comfort.  To  a  child  the  house  he 
lives  in,  from  garret  to  cellar,  is  interesting.  T]ie 
garret  is  the  child's  museum  of  curiosities,  and  the 
cellar  is  his  unexplored  region  of  wonders.  At  least 
it  used  to  be  so,  though  I  am  afraid  that  modern 
architectural  improvements  have  banished  the  genu- 
ine old-fashioned  garret  and  cellar  by  letting  order 
into  the  one  and  light  into  the  other.  But  in  my 
childhood  the  garret  was  a  great  storehouse  of  curi- 
osities, dusty  bundles  of  newspapers  from  the  last 
century,  the  antiquated  smokejack  which  used  to 
turn  our  meat,  helmets  and  crimson  sashes  from 
the  Eevolution,  side-saddles  and  high-heeled  shoes 
belonging  to  belles  of  past  times.  And  the  old- 
fashioned  cellar,  as  I  remember  it,  had  its  dark 
vecesses  and  hidden  chambers,  into  the  inmost  of 
which  the  boldest  of  us  dared  not  venture.  Homes 
in  those  days  seemed  solid,  and  meant  to  last. 
The}^  were  not  bought  and  sold  at  every  caprice, 
but  were  the  abiding-place  of  many  generations. 

The  roof  is  the  shelter  of  the  family.     When  the 


22  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

winter  storm  rages  without ;  when  the  sleet  beats 
against  the  window,  and  the  snow  lies  heavy 
around;  within  blazes  the  cheerful  fire,  and  the 
family  gathers  around  it  in  security  and  peace. 

The  soul  also  needs  a  roof,  a  shelter;  and  the 
Church,  in  its  largest  sense,  is  the  shelter  of  the 
soul.  Jesus  gave  this  large  definition  of  the  Church 
when  he  said,  ''If  two  or  three  meet  together  in 
my  name,  I  am  in  the  midst  of  tliem."  A  thousand 
j^eople  meeting  in  the  name  of  fashion,  of  estab- 
lished usage,  of  vanity,  do  not  make  a  church.  A 
creed  and  liturgy  do  not  make  a  church.  But 
where  two  really  meet  in  the  spirit  of  Christ,  there 
is  a  church.  There  the  soul  finds  shelter,  com- 
fort, peace,  a  home ;  and  Christ  is  present  to 
protect  and  inspire,  to  uplift  and  cheer.  This  is 
divine  overarching  roof,  the  dome  of  the  spiritual 
heaven. 

Another  element  which  unites  tlie  family  in  its 
home  is  the  table.  It  is  a  distinction  of  civilized 
man  to  eat  in  company.  Animals  eat  alone,  when 
and  where  they  can.  Savages  often  eat  alone. 
But  the  common  table  is  the  fruit  of  civilization. 
Twice  or  three  times  a  day  the  members  of  the 
household  collect  and  sit  opposite  to  each  other  at 
a  common  meal.  How  much  does  not  this  add  to 
the  intimacy  and  union  of  a  household  !  To  break 
bread  together  is  a  sacrament  of  friendship  among 
all  nations.  In  that  family  which  we  call  a  church 
is  also  this  meeting  together  for  food.     The  Church 


THE  FAMILY  IN  HEAVEN  AND  EARTH.     23 

spreads  its  table  on  the  Lord's  Day,  and  offers  food 
to  the  mind  and  heart  in  its  prayers  and  hymns,  its 
Scripture  and  its  sermons.  It  spreads  another  table 
in  its  literature,  its  religious  biographies,  its  jour- 
nals, its  sacred  histories,  its  sacred  poetry,  its  books 
of  edification  and  instruction.  It  spreads  a  table 
for  the  young  in  its  Sunday  school.  Its  social 
meetings  and  couferences  offer  food  in  still  another 
way,  so  that  every  mind  and  heart  shall  be  satisfied. 
This  table  of  the  Church  comprises  all  its  means 
of  edification.  But  here  again  let  us  distinguish 
between  the  technical  church  and  the  true  church. 
If  we  go  to  church  and  hear  dogmas,  or  literary 
essays,  or  philosophical  discussions,  or  severe  at- 
tacks on  other  churches,  or  assaults  on  unbelievers, 
what  does  it  profit  ?  "  The  hungry  sheep  look  up, 
and  are  not  fed."  But  the  church  which  feeds 
the  soul  is  one  in  which  we  are  helped  to  feel  the 
presence  and  love  of  God  in  the  world ;  to  know 
the  grandeur  of  our  human  life,  the  nobleness  of 
living  for  others,  and  the  certain  triumph  of  truth 
over  error,  right  over  wrong,  good  over  evil.  That 
is  the  food  we  need,  —  food  for  conscience,  heart, 
and  life,  to  make  us  strong  for  our  work,  to  comfort 
us  in  our  sorrow,  to  enable  us  to  see  heaven  near 
while  we  walk  on  earth. 

The  Lord's  Supper  is  the  symbol  of  the  food 
which  Christ  and  Christianity  supply  to  tlie  human 
mind  and  heart.  We  eat  a  piece  of  bread  and  drink 
a  little  wine  as  an   expression  of  our  faith  that 


24  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

Christ's  life  and  death  feed  our  souls  with  strength 
and  joy.  All  should  thus  unite  who  have  this  faith. 
It  is  not  for  church  members  only,  but  for  all 
Christians.  It  is  not  for  the  good  and  holy,  for 
pious  persons  only,  any  more  than  prayer  and 
public  worship  is  for  them  only.  Just  as  in  a 
family  all  the  members  come  together,  old  and 
young,  to  the  breakfast-table,  even  to  the  little  child 
sitting  in  his  high  chair,  so  to  the  table  of  the  Lord 
all  should  come,  even  the  youngest  and  humblest 
Christian  who  yet  claims  Jesus  as  his  teacher, 
friend,  and  Saviour. 

The  third  thing  which  characterizes  every  home 
is,  that  it  is  a  sphere  of  activity  and  centre  of  com- 
munion, of  which  the  'parlor  (or  keeping-room,  as  it 
is  called  in  the  country)  is  the  focus.  From  this 
the  family  go  out,  each  to  his  work  or  pleasure ;  to 
this  they  all  return,  and  communicate  what  they 
have  gained.  Every  home  is  the  centre  of  a  circle, 
and  these  circles  overlap  each  other,  so  that  one 
circle  catches  into  another,  and  thus  society  is  made 
up  of  many  little  family  circles,  which  are  linked  in 
and  in  with  each  other.  So  in  tlie  old  coats  of  mail 
each  ring^  of  steel  was  interlinked  with  two  or  three 
others.  Every  child  and  man  living  in  a  home  and 
family  is  thus  introduced  to  surrounding  homes  and 
families,  and  brought  into  a  communion  of  work, 
of  study,  of  thought,  of  social  sympathy  and  inter- 
course. And  thus  every  church  ought  to  be  a  circle 
interlinked  with   other  surrounding  churches,  and 


THE  FAMILY  IN  HEAVEN  AND  EARTH.    25 

SO  tending  to  make  a  Christian  society,  a  church 
universal. 

The  old  town-life  of  N'ew  England  was  like  one 
great  family.  Some  of  us  have  seen  the  memoir 
of  a  lady  who  lived  in  a  town  on  the  Connecticut 
Eiver  some  fifty  years  ago,  before  railroads  existed, 
and  when  a  journey  to  Boston  was  a  serious  affair. 
That  book  shows  how  every  one  in  the  town  knew 
every  one  else.  It  was  a  matter  of  course  that 
every  one  should  visit  every  one  else.  If  one 
member  suffered,  all  suffered ;  if  one  rejoiced,  all 
were  happy. 

The  ideal  school  is  also  like  a  family.  When  a 
school  is  governed  like  an  army,  and  discipline  is 
the  chief  element,  there  is  a  low  type  of  school.  As 
it  approaches  to  family  life  it  rises.  This  was  the 
ideal  of  Pestalozzi,  to  make  a  school  like  a  family ; 
and  all  educational  reform  since  his  time  has  been 
in  that  direction. 

The  ideal  church  is  like  a  family.  A  church 
which  is  governed  like  an  army,  where  discipline 
is  the  chief  element,  belongs  to  a  low  type.  A 
church  which  approaches  family  life  rises  higher 
and  higher.  Such  was  the  Church  at  first,  when  we 
read  that  "  the  multitude  of  them  that  believed  were 
of  one  heart  and  one  soul;  neither  said  anyone  that 
aught  that  he  possessed  was  his  own,  but  they  had 
all  things  common."  A  true  church  ought  to  seem 
like  a  home,  and  all  within  it  to  be  like  brothers 
and  sisters. 


26  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

The  great  religions  reform  introduced  by  Jesus, 
and  which  has  lifted  all  human  society  to  a  higher 
level,  which  saved  Eoman  civilization  from  utter 
ruin,  which  tamed  Northern  barbarism,  and  united 
w^arring  races  into  a  new  league  of  Christian  States, 
had  its  root  and  its  essence  in  this  idea,  that  all 
mankind  are  one  family.  It  consisted  in  the  con- 
viction that  God  is  our  Father,  and  therefore  to 
be  obeyed  and  loved ;  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  be- 
cause he  is  "  the  Son,"  the  best  illustration  of  true 
filial  love  to  God ;  and  that  humanity  is  a  brother- 
hood. In  this  lies  the  essence  of  the  great  Christian 
faith  and  life,  —  the  conviction  that  there  is  one 
family  in  heaven  and  earth. 

Therefore,  the  first  and  fundamental  conviction 
in  Christianity  is,  that  God  is  our  Father.  We  are 
his  family,  and  he  is  the  Father  of  the  household. 
Jesus  did  not  invent  the  term  as  applied  to  God, 
but  he  introduced  the  spirit  of  filial  thought  when 
he  said,  "Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven;"  "My 
Father  worketh  hitherto."  He  was  thought  irrever- 
ent by  the  people  around  him  in  being  so  familiar 
with  the  infinite  and  almighty  God.  But  it  was 
the  familiarity  born  of  trust  and  love,  and  it  has 
made  the  world  new. 

I  lately  received  a  tract  called  "  Hell,"  published 
in  Scotland,  the  object  of  which  is  to  persuade  us 
by  the  usual  theological  logic,  based  on  a  bald  lit- 
eralism, that  God  is  to  punish  forever  those  of  his 
children  who  do  nol  pass  through  some  experience 


THE  FAMILY  IN  HEAVEN  AND  EARTH.    27 

considered  necessary  by  those  who  call  themselves 
evangelical.  The  reply  to  such  arguments  is  an 
answer  taught  by  the  Master.  "  What  man  is  there 
among  you,  being  a  father,"  who  could  do  this  ? 
What  father,  unless  insane  with  cruelty,  w^ould  tor- 
ture his  child  forever  in  a  hell  where  he  could  get 
no  good  ?  What  man  of  only  a  decent  feeling  of 
responsibility  would  wish  to  create  a  child  who  could 
plunge  himself  into  such  irreparable  ruin  ?  Many  a 
man  is  called  an  atheist  Avhose  utterances  are  less 
irreligious  than  this.  If  any  one  said  of  you  tlmt 
you  had  constructed  a  furnace  into  which  to  put 
your  children,  and  had  invented  a  way  of  prolong- 
ing their  lives  and  their  sufferings  forever,  would 
you  not  be  indignant  at  such  an  outrageous  accu- 
sation ?  But  this  is  exactly  what  believers  in  ever- 
lasting j)unishment  teach  concerning  the  Almighty, 
whom  they  profess  to  worship.  I  think  I  hear 
Jesus  saying  of  such  teachers,  "Father,  forgive 
them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do  ! " 

I  am  not  now  making  an  appeal  to  human  reason. 
I  am  using  the  argument  that  our  Master  has  used 
before.  When  he  wished  to  convince  the  disciples 
that  God  would  give  his  spirit  in  answer  to  prayer, 
he  did  not  assert  it  on  his  own  authority;  he  did 
not  demand  their  assent  because  of  his  supernatural 
character ;  he  did  not  say,  "  Believe  me,  for  I  am 
inspired,  and  sent  by  God  to  teach  you."  No ;  but 
he  argued  from  the  character  of  a  human  father  to 
that  of  a  divine  father.     He  said,  "What  man  is 


28  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

there  among  you  who,  if  his  son  asks  bread,  will  he 
give  him  a  stone  ?  If  ye,  being  evil,  know  how  to 
give  good  gifts  to  your  children,  how  much  more 
will  your  Father  in  heaven  give  good  gifts  to  those 
who  ask  him."  Thus  he  authorized  us  to  argue  from 
the  finite  goodness  of  an  earthly  father  to  the  infi- 
nite goodness  of  the  heavenly  Father.  He  taught 
us  to  look  through  earthly  love  to  find  heavenly 
love. 

In  the  teaching  of  Jesus  this  profound  convic- 
tion, this  fixed  habit  of  always  seeing  God  as  a  Fa- 
ther, is  the  idea  which  determines  all  other  beliefs. 
No  doctrine  can  be  true  in  Christianity  which  re- 
gards the  Deity  otherwise  than  as  a  Father.  Chris- 
tianity develops  itself  out  of  this  centre  of  life.  If 
you  wish  to  know  how  God  will  feel  and  act,  how 
he  will  regard  any  act  of  yours,  you  must  ask.  How 
would  a  good  and  wise  father  feel  or  act  in  like 
circumstances  ? 

Thus  true  family  life  is  everywhere  the  germ  out 
of  which  the  higher  life  comes.  It  is  the  seed  of 
the  true  school,  the  true  neighborhood,  the  true 
church,  and  the  heaven  beyond.  Everything  which 
makes  family  life  better  helps  the  Church  and  the 
State.  Let  us,  then,  cherish  and  purify  the  family  ; 
let  us  improve  the  household  and  home;  let  us 
bring  all  good  influences  to  bear  on  these  centres  of 
progress,  and  we  shall  be  doing  the  Lord's  work. 

There  will,  no  doubt,  be  families  in  heaven, 
groups  of  angels  living   together,  homes  of  peace, 


THE  FAMILY  IN  HEAVEN  AND  EARTH.     29 

joy,  and  love.  There,  as  here,  there  will  be  the  shel- 
ter, the  table,  the  place  of  communion.  Those  who 
are  bound  by  affinities  of  love  and  thought  will 
dwell  together  and  work  together.  These  families 
will  be  separate,  but  not  divided  nor  solitary.  They 
will  be  joined  into  one  greater  family,  and  the  love 
and  peace  of  God  will  make  them  one.  There  the 
friendship  and  love  of  earth  will  be  purified  and 
elevated;  there  we  shall  be  known  as  we  really 
are;  there  all  misunderstandings  will  cease;  there 
Jesus,  the  Christ,  shall  come  near  to  every  one  of 
his  followers,  and  all  will  be  at  one  in  him. 


III. 


THE   RELIGION   WHICH   PASSES  AWAY, 
AND   THAT   WHICH  ABIDES. 


m. 


THE   RELIGION  WHICH   PASSES  AWAY, 
AND   THAT  WHICH   ABIDES. 


I 


N  every  century  since  Christ  came  there  have 
been  those  who  predicted  the  speedy  downfall 
of  his  religion.  It  would  be  curious  to  collect  a 
catena,  or  chain,  of  such  statements.  There  always 
have  been  opposers  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus,  who  be- 
lieved that  its  power  was  exhausted,  its  life  coming 
to, an  end,  and  that  some  larger,  deeper,  better  form 
of  religion  was  arriving  to  take  its  place.  Gnosti- 
cism, Manicheeism,  New-Platonism,  Mohammedan- 
ism,'poured  in  successive  waves  of  thought  over 
Christendom.  But  always  the  ark,  which  bore  the 
simple  story  of  Jesus,  rose  anew,  and  floated  above 
the  deluge ;  always  the  sun  of  righteousness  poured 
out  agai^Ti  its  light  and  heat  over  the  world  of 
human  life  and  human  thought. 

Christianity,  as  to  its  essence,  survives  all  the 
storms  of  time ;  but  Christianity,  as  to  its  forms, 
changes  from  age  to  age.  It  leaves  behind  many 
things  which  once   seemed   to  be   important,  but 


34  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

which  are  found  to  be  unnecessary  aucl  unessential. 
The  ceremonies  and  ritual,  formerly  believed  vital, 
have  come  to  an  end ;  the  creeds  of  the  early  centu- 
ries are  outgrown.  Our  religion  may  say,  as  Paul 
said,  "  When  I  was  a  child,  I  spake  as  a  child,  I 
understood  as  a  child,  I  thought  as  a  child;  but 
when  I  became  a  man,  I  put  away  childish  things." 
Many  widespread  beliefs  of  the  Church  were  child- 
ish beliefs,  and  have  been  forojotten.  It  believed 
the  world  was  coming  to  a  speedy  end ;  that  Christ 
was  coming  immediately  to  judge  the  living  and  the 
dead.  Figurative  expressions  were  taken  literally. 
Men,  it  was  said,  were  saved  by  being  baptized, 
and  by  the  other  sacraments.  The  Pope  had  the 
keys  of  heaven  and  hell.  All  these  opinions  were 
transient ;  and  as  one  after  another  disappeared, 
many  supposed  that  Christianity  was  disappearing 
too.  So  "  the  burning  of  a  little  straw  on  the  earth 
may  hide  for  a  time  the  everlasting  stars ;  but  the 
stars  are  there,  and  will  reappear." 

Paul  states,  in  a  very  broad  way,  that  all  religious 
beliefs  are  transient,  none  permanent.  "Whether 
there  be  knowledge,  it  shall  vanish  away.  We 
know  in  part,  and  teach  in  part;  but  when  that 
which  is  perfect  is  come,  then  that  which  is  in  part 
shall  be  done  away."  He  thus  proclaims  very  dis- 
tinctly what  has  been  regarded  as  a  discovery  of 
modern  thought,  —  the  doctrine  of  "the  relativity 
of  knowledge."  Tliis,  however,  does  not  mean 
that  all  truth  is  transient,  but  that  oicr  forms  of 


RELIGION,  TRANSIENT  AND  PERMANENT.    85 

exxjressing  truth  change.  Faith  holds  to  the  eternal 
truth  behind  all  statements ;  and  tlius  faith  abides, 
while  belief  changes. 

The  conviction,  once  universal,  in  the  reality  of 
witchcraft  has  passed  away.     The  similar  belief  in 
possession  by  demons  has  gone  by.     The  confidence, 
attested  by  much   evidence,  that  the  king's  touch 
could  cure  disease,  has  disappeared.      Persecution 
for  opinion's   sake,   once   thought  a  duty  both  by 
Eoman  Catholics  and  Protestants,  has  virtually  come 
to  an  end  in  both   religions.     Other  opinions  are 
following  fast  after  these.     Many  of  those  which 
were  once  held  to  be  so  orthodox  that  no  man  could 
be  saved  who  did  not  believe  them,  are  neglected 
and  forgotten.     No  one  is  so  poor  as  to  do  them 
reverence.     They  still  remain  imbedded  in  the  old 
creeds,  like  fossils  in  some  ancient  stratum  of  rock, 
to  show  us  what  sort  of  monsters  once  inhabited 
our  earth.    The  Athanasian  Creed,  which  the  law  of 
England  requires  to  be  said  or  sung  several  times  a 
year  in  the  churches,  declares  that  those  who  do  not 
believe  its  mediaeval  statements  about  the  Trinity 
"shall,  without  doubt,  perish  everlastingly."     But 
not  many  years  ago,  in  a  meeting  of  the  bishops 
of  the  Church  of  England,  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury said  that  he  supposed  not  one  of  the  bishops 
present  believed  in  that  damnatory  clause,  and  no 
one  said  that  he  did.     Yet  a  short  time  ago  some 
of  my  family,  attending  a  service  in  a  children's 
hospital  in  London,  heard  the  little  children  sing 


86  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

sweetly  that  those  who  did  not  believe  the  Trinity 
should,  without  doubt,  perish  everlastingly.  So  far, 
the  Church  of  England  has  not  put  away  childish 
thinsrs. 

Other  doctrines,  worse  than  this,  are  fast  passing 
away.  The  doctrine  that  the  heathen,  who  make 
three  fourths  of  the  human  race,  must  necessarily 
be  punished  everlastingly,  is  now  becoming  obnox- 
ious to  the  orthodox  believer.  He  still  holds  to 
the  doctrine  that  no  one  can  be  saved  except  by 
faith  in  Christ.  Therefore  the  heathen,  who  never 
have  heard  of  Christ,  must,  as  it  would  seem,  per- 
ish everlastingly.  "  Not  so,"  replies  modern  ortho- 
doxy, "  for  they  may  have  a  probation  in  the  other 
life."  I  observe  that  the  Boston  Monday  lecturer 
met  the  difficulty  in  a  more  rational  and  liberal 
way.  He  declared  that  every  man  has  in  his  con- 
science a  revelation  of  Christ,  and  therefore  the 
heathen  who  believe  in  the  teachings  of  their  con- 
science, and  obey  its  laws,  are  really  accepting  and 
obeying  Christ.  And  this  view  would  seem  to 
accord  remarkably  w^ell  with  the  account  of  the 
Day  of  Judgment  given  by  Jesus  himself  (in  the 
twenty-sixth  chapter  of  Matthew),  when  he  says 
that  all  the  heathen  shall  be  gathered  before  him, 
and  that  the  test  applied  shall  be  this  :  "  Did  they, 
or  did  they  not,  feed  the  hungry,  clothe  the  naked, 
be  hospitable  to  the  stranger,  and  visit  the  sick  and 
the  prisoner  ?  "  By  and  by,  perhaps,  the  Christian 
Church  may  advance  so  far  as  to  believe  Christ's 


RELIGION,  TRANSIENT  AND  PERMANENT.     37 

own  account  of  the  principles  of  probation  and 
judgment. 

Another  belief  which  is  passing  away  is  that  of 
the  infallible  inspiration  of  the  whole  Bible.  A 
curious  instance  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  a  late  issue 
of  "  The  Independent,"  a  New  York  liberal-orthodox 
journal.  There  are  in  this  number  two  articles. 
One  of  them  declares  it  to  be  a  si^n  of  the  down- 
ward  tendency  of  Unitarianism  that  it  has  no  ade- 
quate faith  in  the  Bible.  This  article  objects  to 
Unitarians  that  they  put  the  Bible  on  a  level  with 
other  books,  when  they  ought  to  regard  both  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  as  the  only  and  infallible 
rule  of  faith  and  practice.  The  other  article  is  upon 
a  life  of  Jesus,  by  a  German  theologian,  Bernard 
Weiss,  whom  it  praises  as  the  most  thorough  and 
excellent  of  modern  critics.  The  writer  of  this 
article  agrees  with  Weiss  that  the  theory  of  verbal 
inspiration  is  an  unnatural  one ;  declares  that  the 
differences  in  the  four  Gospels  cannot  be  reconciled 
by  any  theory  of  inspiratiou,  and  tells  us  that  the 
Gospels  are  to  be  viewed  as  human  writings,  though, 
as  they  were  written  by  the  apostles  or  their  pu- 
pils, they  are  essentially  credible.  But  he  adds 
that  our  Christian  belief  would  remain  the  same 
if  we  did  not  possess  the  Gospels,  but  only  the 
Epistles. 

"Whether  there  be  knowledge,  it  shall  vanish 
away."  So  declares  the  Apostle  Paul,  pushing  the 
subsoil  plough  of  his  philosophy  so  deep  as  to  turn 


38  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

up  all  the  weeds  of  bigotry  by  the  roots.  All 
statements  are  partial  and  incomplete;  therefore 
all  statements  are  provisional  and  temporary.  All 
creeds,  all  beliefs,  must  pass  away,  his  own  included. 
"  We  know  in  part,  and  we  teach  in  part ;  but  when 
that  which  is  perfect  is  come,  then  that  which  is  in 
part  shall  be  done  away."  This  is  wliat  Paul  says 
about  his  own  teaching.  It  is  not  infallibly,  abso- 
lutely, and  forever  true ;  only  true  in  part,  and  one 
day  to  be  swallowed  up  in  larger  knowledge.  Mean- 
time his  followers  imagine  that  their  little  ways  of 
thinking  and  speaking  are  altogether  and  forever 
certain,  so  that  whoever  does  not  accept  them  "shall, 
without  doubt,  perish  everlastingly." 

There  is  something  solemn,  something  sad,  in  this 
decay  and  change  of  what  men  have  believed  ;  this 
passing  away  of  beliefs  and  opinions  in  which  they 
treasured  their  religious  life.  Sad  it  is  to  se^  the 
decline  of  great  dynasties,  the  fall  of  mighty  em- 
pires,—  "Ass3Tia,  Greece,  Eome,  Carthage,  where 
are  they  ? "  —  but  still  more  sad  to  stand  on  the 
summit  of  ecclesiastical  history  and  see  what  world- 
wide doctrines  have  sunk  in  the  fast-rolling  current 
of  years.  Where  is  the  great  belief  that  Christ 
was  soon  to  come  outwardly  in  the  visible  heavens 
to  judge  the  world  in  majesty  and  glory  ?  This 
notion,  once  universal,  sustained  the  souls  of  those 
who  were  persecuted  for  conscience'  sake,  and  was 
comfort  to  the  hearts  of  the  noble  army  of  martyrs. 
Yet  it  has  gone,  and  gone  forever.     We  now  see 


RELIGION,   TRANSIENT  AND  PERMANENT.    39 

that  Christ  comes  in  the  spirit  of  his  religion,  in 
the  progress  of  mankind,  in  the  emancipation  of 
the  slaves,  in  tender  humanities  toward  the  suffer- 
ing. Wherever  a  new  effort  is  made  to  soften  the 
hard  lot  of  the  weak  and  the  oppressed,  that  is  the 
coming  of  Christ.  He  comes  in  the  spirit  of  all 
philanthropies  and  humanities.  When  the  blind  are 
taught  to  see  through  the  tips  of  their  fingers ; 
when  the  deaf  are  made  to  hear  by  reading  from 
the  movements  of  the  lips  ;  wdien  the  miseries  of 
war  are  alleviated  by  the  Sanitary  Commission ; 
when  the  poor  are  helped  by  co-operative  associa- 
tions ;  when  Mr.  Brace  sends  the  children  out  of 
the  streets  of  New  York  to  happy  homes  in  the 
West ;  when  Aunty  Gwynne  takes  little  orphans 
to  her  warm  heart ;  when  our  friends,  Miss  Botume, 
Miss  Towne,  Miss  Bradley,  and  others  go  to  teach 
the  negro  children  at  tlie  South ;  when  General 
Armstrong  educates  the  Indians,  —  when  thus  the 
blind  are  made  to  see  and  the  deaf  to  hear,  and  the 
dead  in  mind  and  heart  are  raised  to  life,  that  is 
known  to  be  the  real  coming  of  Christ.  The  old 
belief  has  passed  away,  that  a  better  one  may 
take  its  place.  The  old  belief  was  a  compromise 
wdth  Judaism,  which  taught  that  Christ's  kingdom 
was  of  this  world,  one  of  outward  power  and  splen- 
dor.    It  thouo-ht  that  Jesus  is  to  come  hereafter  as 

o 

an  outward  king,  with  visible  pomp  and  splendor, 
though  at  present  his  kingdom  is  inward  and  spirit- 
ual.    But  now  we  see  that  Christ  always  comes  by 


40  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

his  spiritual  presence  in  the  mind  and  heart ;  that 
his  joy  is  to  reign  in  souls  redeemed  and  sins  for- 
given ;  and  that  it  would  add  nothing  at  all  to  his 
true  glory  to  be  made  the  visible  monarch  of  the 
outward  universe. 

But  the  timid  are  alarmed  at  the  sight  of  all 
these  changes,  and  are  afraid  lest  Christianity  it- 
self should  pass  away  too.  "Is  there  anything 
certain?"  they  ask  ;  "any tiling  stable  and  firm,  any- 
thing to  which  we  may  cling,  any  anchor  that  will 
hold?"  The  apostle  answers,  Yes,  three  things, 
faith,  hope,  and  love.  "Now  abideth  faith,  hope, 
and  love,  these  three;  but  the  greatest  of  these  is 
love." 

There  are  many,  I  know,  to  whom  faith  seems 
much  less  substantial,  much  less  permanent,  than 
knowledge.  They  imagine  it  to  be  the  same  thing 
as  credulity,  something  quite  unscientific.  Those 
who  walk  by  faith  are  regarded  as  weak-minded 
people,  who  believe,  not  what  is  true,  but  what  is 
agreeable.  They  are  supposed  to  believe  in  God, 
Christ,  and  immortality,  not  on  evidence,  not  be- 
cause these  are  realities,  but  because  such  beliefs 
are  comforting  and  pleasant. 

But  the  truth  is  that  faith  is  the  very  life  of  the 
intellect,  the  essential  condition  of  all  knowleds^e. 
All  that  we  know  rests  on  the  solid  foundation 
of  trust.  Trust  in  certain  immutable  convictions, 
confidence  in  the  veracity  of  our  own  faculties,  re- 
liance on  the  corresponding  veracity  of  our  fellow- 


RELIGION,  TRANSIENT  AND  PERMANENT.    41 

creatures,  a  profound  faith  in  the  stable  order  of  the 
universe  and  the  reign  of  universal  law,  —  all  this 
is  faith,  not  knowledge.  But  without  it  knowledge 
were  impossible.  We  must  all  begin  by  trusting 
our  own  faculties.  We  trust  our  senses.  When 
we  open  our  eyes  and  see  the  sun,  the  earth,  the 
ocean,  the  faces  of  men  and  women,  we  believe  that 
they  are  realities.  This  is  an  act  of  faith.  When 
we  hear  the  melodies  of  winds  and  woods  and 
waters,  the  tones  of  affection,  the  words  which 
bring  to  us  comfort  and  peace,  we  rely  on  the  re- 
ality of  all  this.  Our  senses  may  deceive  ns,  yet 
we  trust  in  them.  We  trust  in  our  higher  faculties  ; 
we  believe  the  reports  which  consciousness  gives 
to  us  of  our  own  identity  and  personality,  of  the 
reality  of  right  and  wrong,  good  and  evil,  time  and 
space,  beauty,  order,  immortal  truth.  Thus  faith 
is  the  foundation  on  which  our  knowledge  rests, — 
faith  in  things  unseen,  behind  and  below  whatever 
is  seen. 

All  human  action,  all  good  endeavor,  all  the 
progress  of  civilization,  is  the  work  of  faith.  In 
the  eleventh  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
the  writer  says  that  "  by  faith  "  Abraham,  Isaac, 
Jacob,  and  all  the  great  heroes  of  Israel  accom- 
plished their  noble  deeds.  So  it  has  been  ever 
since.  By  faith  the  Apostle  Paul  crossed  the 
^gean  Sea,  and  went  from  Asia  to  Europe  to  con- 
vert a  new  world  to  Christ.  By  faith  the  mission- 
aries of  the  gospel  went  among  the  savage  Goths 


42  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

and  Vandals  with  the  same  divine  purpose,  and 
saved  Eoman  civilization  from  ruin.  By  faith,  in 
later  days,  the  Jesuits  went  among  the  North 
American  Indians,  and  Livingstone  among  the 
African  barbarians,  not  counting  their  lives  dear, 
so  that  they  might  finish  their  course  with  joy. 
By  faith  Coster  invented  the  printing-press;  by 
faith  Watt  discovered  the  steam-engine,  Stephenson 
the  locomotive,  Daguerre  the  sun-portraits.  By 
faith  Howard  reformed  the  prisons ;  Wesley  gave 
spiritual  life  to  the  lowest  classes  in  England; 
Clarkson  and  Wilberforce  abolished  the  slave-trade ; 
Garrison  and  Abraham  Lincoln  put  an  end  to 
slavery  in  the  United  States.  By  faith  Dr.  Howe 
penetrated  into  the  darkness  of  Laura  Bridgman's 
mind  and  carried  knowledge  there.  By  faith  Chan- 
ning,  Bushnell,  and  Theodore  Parker  shook  the 
pillars  of  irrational  belief.  By  faith  Eobertson 
and  Stanley  gave  a  larger  life  to  the  Church  of 
England. 

Thus  we  see  that  faith  abides,  —  faith  in  trutLs 
as  yet  unseen,  in  laws  not  yet  discovered,  in  great 
realities  outside  of  our  present  vision.  All  human 
knowledge,  human  endeavor,  earthly  progress,  de- 
pends on  faith  that  beyond  what  we  know  there 
is  a  great  world  of  truth  and  good  still  to  be  dis- 
covered. 

And  this  is,  in  reality,  faith  in  God.  For  God 
is  the  eternal  Truth,  the  omniscient  Good.  He  is 
behind  all  things,  before  all  things,  and  above  all 


RELIGION,  TRANSIENT  AND  PERMANENT.    43 

things.  We  do  not  see  him,  but  faith  leads  directly 
and  inevitably  to  him. 

Thus  faith  is  like  the  primitive  granite  of  our 
New  England.  Dig  down  deep  and  you  come  to  it, 
below  all  superimposed  strata.  Go  to  the  summit 
of  the  higliest  mountains  and  you  find  it,  on  the 
loftiest  elevations.  Faith  begins  as  the  basis  of  the 
infant's  knowledge ;  it  ends  in  leading  us  to  know 
God,  Christ,  and  immortality.  Thus  it  abides  with 
us  always,  the  constant  companion  of  our  discovery 
and  our  knowledge. 

And  the  child  of  faith  is  hope,  equally  immortal. 
Why  do  we  believe  in  progress  ?  Why  do  we  try 
to  make  the  world  better  ?  Why  do  men  expect  to 
improve  their  condition  ?  It  is  because  God  has 
placed  within  the  human  heart  this  boundless  ex- 
pectation of  something  better  to-morrow  than  we 
have  to-day.  The  best  evidence  that  there  will  be 
progress  in  this  world  and  in  the  world  to  come  is 
this,  that  hope  is  an  abiding  element  in  human 
nature.  On  this  instinct  rests,  in  a  large  degree,  our 
belief  in  immortality,  and  a  reunion  with  the  loved 
and  the  lost  in  some  better  world  beyond.  And  it 
is  no  delusion,  no  mere  imagination,  born  of  empty 
wishes.  It  rests  on  an  immutable,  unchangeable 
law  of  human  nature  planted  in  the  soul  by  the 
Creator.  It  is  more  convincing  than  any  argument, 
more  reasonable  than  the  most  subtle  logic.  It 
says,  "  0  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  0  grave, 
where  is  thy  victory  ? " 


44  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

"  Upon  the  frontier  of  this  shadowy  land 
We,  pilgrims  of  eternal  sorrow,  stand  ; 
What  realm  lies  forward  with  its  happier  shore, 

With  forests  green  and  deep, 

With  vallej^s  hushed  in  sleep. 
And  lakes  most  peaceful  ?    'T  is  the  land  of  evermore." 

But  best  and  most  blessed  of  all  abiding  things 
is  love.  Love  is  the  spirit  of  life,  and  makes  all 
things  live.  Witliout  love,  life  is  not  worth  living. 
It  is  in  the  first  look  of  intelligence  which  we 
discover  in  the  infant's  eye  ;  it  is  in  the  last  feeble 
pressure  of  the  hand  of  the  dying.  Nothing  is  so 
real  as  this  ;  it  alone  has  solidity,  substance,  and 
essential  being.  Selfishness  is  not  enduring ;  in  its 
very  nature  it  destroys  itself.  The  selfish  man  is 
only  half  alive.  He  sits  alone,  in  a  cold  isolation 
of  souL 

In  all  religions  the  most  essential  part  is  love. 
Christianity  is  the  highest  of  all,  because  it  sums 
up  its  whole  law  in  these  two  articles,  "  Love  God, 
and  love  man."  Jesus  does  not  say,  "  Believe  this 
and  that  about  God,  about  me,  about  sin  and  salva- 
tion." But  he  says,  "Love  God  with  all  your  heart, 
and  your  neighbor  as  yourself."  And  amid  all  the 
changes  of  creeds,  the  strife  of  parties,  the  reforms 
and  revolutions  of  the  Church,  this  has  been  one 
of  the  unchanging  factors.  No  heresy  ever  denied 
love;  no  papal  decree  ever  denounced  piety  and 
humanity.  Amid  all  these  storms  love  continued ; 
love  had  its  abode  in  many  an  humble  home,  in 


RELIGION,  TRANSIENT  AND  PERMANENT.    45 

many  a  meek  and  trusting  heart.  In  the  hardest 
and  most  cruel  days  love  prompted  men  and  women 
to  feed  the  hungry,  clothe  the  naked,  visit  the  pris- 
oner^ redeem  the  slave,  cleanse  the  leper,  and  bring 
comfort  to  the  forlorn. 

Love  abides.  This  is  the  very  essence  of  Chris- 
tianity, the  soul  within  its  soul.  And  this  blessed 
gift  comes  direct  from  God.  When  the  poor  woman 
knelt  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  he  said,  ''  She  loves  much 
because  she  has  been  forgiven  much."  Love  is  born 
out  of  our  sin  when  we  look  to  God  for  pardon,  and 
find  his  comfort  and  peace  descending  into  our 
heart.  "  We  love  him  because  he  first  loved  us." 
There  have  been  forms  of  Christian  belief  which 
represented  God  not  as  the  universal  Father,  but  as 
the  inflexible  Judge,  who  dooms  to  everlasting  woe 
myriads  of  the  creatures  he  has  himself  created. 
We  cannot  love  such  a  being  as  this.  Therefore 
the  Church  sometimes  has  substituted  as  the  objects 
of  its  affection  the  Christ  who  took  pity  on  our  woe 
and  came  to  redeem  us,  and  the  Blessed  Virgin,  who 
was  represented  as  still  more  merciful  than  Christ. 

But  the  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  true 
worshippers  shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and 
in  truth.  The  hour  cometh  when  it  will  be  seen 
that  God  is  the  best  friend  we  have  in  the  universe, 
and  that  he  wishes  us  to  trust  in  him  always,  and 
to  pour  out  our  souls  before  him. 

These,  then,  are  the  unchanging,  unalterable  facts 
of  Christianity.     Faith  is  the  foundation  :  faith  in 


46  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

God  as  an  infinite  Friend;  faith  in  Christ  as  the 
way,  the  truth,  and  the  life;  faith  in  ourselves  as 
the  children  of  God,  whom  he  loves,  and  who,  there- 
fore, must  have  something  in  us  worth  loving.  And 
hope,  always  reaching  forward,  seeking,  praying, 
working  for  a  kingdom  of  heaven  to  come  below, 
for  a  kingdom  of  God  to  begin  here  and  continue 
hereafter.  And  love,  the  bright  consummate  flower 
of  human  life,  that  which  is  essentially  and  forever 
divine,  which  makes  us  one  with  God  and  at  peace 
in  our  own  souls.  Faith  is  the  foundation  on  which 
our  knowledge  rests ;  Hope  is  the  motive-power 
urging  us  forward  from  good  to  better;  and  Love 
the  heaven  within,  which  makes  a  heaven  around 
us  evermore. 


IV. 

EMPHASIS  IN  EELIGION  AND  LIFE. 


IV. 

EMPHASIS  IN   RELIGION  AND   LIFE. 


TTTE  all  recognize  the  importance  of  true  em- 
^  ^  pbasis  in  speech  and  reading.  A  person 
who  reads  or  speaks  without  emphasis  is  monoto- 
nous, and  monotony  wearies.  A  person  who  has 
too  much  emphasis  in. his  speech  also  wearies  us; 
by  emphasizing  everything,  important  or  unimpor- 
tant, he  makes  every  part  of  his  sentence  equally 
important,  therefore  equally  ^mimportant.  Em- 
phasis placed  on  tlie  wrong  word  changes  the 
meaning  of  the  passage.  Or,  as  is  more  frequently 
the  case,  there  may  be  different  modes  of  empha- 
sizing a  sentence,  all  more  or  less  correct,  but 
some  better  than  the  others.  Thus  in  pronouncing 
a  sentence  consisting  of  only  two  words,  in  the  play 
of  "Macbeth,"  it  is  said  that  Mrs.  Siddons  changed 
her  mode  of  emphasizing  them  twice.  It  is  in  the 
scene  where  Macbeth  and  his  wife  are  discussing 
the  murder  of  the  old  king.  Macbeth  says,  "  If  we 
should  fail  ?  "  Lady  Macbeth  replies,  "  We  fail ! " 
She  first  emphasized  "fail,"  uttering  these  words 
as  though  failure  were  impossible  —  "  We  fail  I " 

4 


50  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

Afterwards  she  emphasized  the  "  we,"  as  though 
failure  by  such  people  as  they  was  imj)ossible  — 
"  We  fail!"  Finally  she  found  a  still  better  em- 
phasis, implying  that  if  they  failed,  they  failed,  and 
that  was  the  end  of  it  —  "  We  fail" 

Nothing  needs  more  care  and  emphasis  in  reading 
than  the  Bible.  If  emphasis  can  change  the  very 
meaning  of  a  passage,  substituting  a  false  meaning 
for  a  true  one,  or  one  less  true  for  one  of  more  im- 
portance, it  is  clear  that  even  an  inspired  book  loses 
its  inspiration  if  read  the  wrong  way.  The  same 
passage,  read  by  different  persons,  may  mean  differ- 
ent things.  A  bad  reader  may  change  the  sense  of 
the  words  of  Paul,  or  the  words  of  Christ  himself, 
and  make  them  say  what  was  not  intended.  Or, 
what  happens  more  frequently,  a  poor  emphasis 
may  leave  the  sense  vague  and  obscure,  while  a  dif- 
ferent stress  on  the  words  will  make  the  meaning 
simple  and  clear.  Indeed,  a  wrong  emphasis  may 
change  the  sense  as  much  as  a  wrong  translation. 

Take  that  familiar  passage  from  Paul  commonly 
read  thus :  "  If  it  be  possible,  as  much  as  licth  in 
you,  live  peaceably  with  all  men."  The  meaning 
then  is  that  no  man  can  always  be  peaceful,  even 
in  his  own  spirit.  But  suppose  we  emphasize  the 
"  you."  "  If  it  be  possible,  as  much  as  lieth  in 
you,  live  peaceably  with  all  men."  Then  it  would 
mean  that  you  can,  at  any  rate,  be  peaceable  toward 
others,  though  yon  may  not  be  able  always  to  make 
them  peaceable  toward  you. 


EMPHASIS  IN  RELIGION  AND  LIFE.        51 

When  Paul  says,  "  We  are  laborers  together  with 
God ;  ye  are  God's  husbandry ;  ye  are  God's  huild- 
ing,''  how  much  deeper  does  the  meaning  become 
by  laying  the  emphasis  on  "  God."  "  Ye  are  God's 
husbandry ;  ye  are  God's  building." 

In  another  place  Paul  says,  "  Receive  us  ;  we  have 
wro7iged  no  man,  we  have  defrauded  no  man."  But 
the  true  meaning  appears  by  a  little  change  of  em- 
phasis, "  Pteceive  its ;  we  have  wronged  no  man,  lue 
have  defrauded  no  man,"  for  they  were  receiving 
those  who  had  wronged  and  defrauded,  and  yet 
wouhl  not  receive  him. 

"All  things  are  for  your  sakes,  that  the  abundant 
grace  might,  through  the  thanksgiYmg  of  many, 
redound  to  the  glory  of  God."  If  the  emphasis  be 
laid  on  the  three  words,  "  abundant,"  "  many,"  and 
"redound,"  how  much  more  full  of  meaning  the 
passage  becomes ! 

In  the  last  conversation  of  Jesus  with  his  disciples 
there  is  a  passage  which  we  often  hear  read  thus : 
"  Now,  ye  are  clean  through  the  word  that  I  have 
spoken  to  you.  Abide  in  mc,  and  I  in  you!'  But 
read  it  thus :  "  Noiu,  ye  are  clean  through  the  word 
that  I  have  spoken  unto  you.  Abide  in  me,  and  I 
in  you."  His  influence  and  words  had  made  their 
souls  pure  at  that  moment ;  but  they  must  abide  in 
him  in  order  to  continue  so. 

For  many  years  I  read  a  passage  of  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  thus  :  "  Salt  is  good;  but  if  the  salt 
has  lost  its  savor,  wherewith  shall   it  be  salted  T' 


62  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

I  think  most  persons  will  agree  with  me  that  a  bet- 
ter rendering  is  this  :  "  Salt  is  good ;  but  if  the  salt 
has  lost  its  savor,  wherewith  shall  it  be  salted  ? " 

I  will  give  only  one  more  example.  In  that 
noble  passage  of  Paul,  read  so  often  in  the  burial- 
service,  I  think  the  force  is  frequently  weakened  by 
too  much  emphasis :  "  It  is  sown  in  corriqjtion,  it 
is  raised  in  incorruption ;  it  is  soivn  in  tueakncss, 
it  is  raised  in  poiver ;  it  is  sown  a  natural  body,  it 
is  raised  a  spiritual  body."  A  better  way,  more 
natural,  more  simple,  more  effective,  I  think,  is 
this :  "  It  is  sown  in  corruption,  it  is  raised  in 
^corruption ;  it  is  sown  in  weakness,  it  is  raised 
in  povjer ;  it  is  sown  a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a 
spiritual  body." 

But  true  and  false  emphasis  apply  not  only  to 
language,  but  also  to  thought,  to  action,  to  life. 

True  emphasis  in  thought  consists  in  seeing  what 
is  central,  fundamental,  vital,  in  any  subject,  and 
bringing  that  out  distinctly.  You  listen  to  two 
lawyers  arguing  a  case.  One  emphasizes  the  main 
point,  the  pivot  on  which  all  depends,  and  makes 
that  so  clear  and  so  convincing  that  it  is  impossible 
to  question  or  doubt  it.  The  other  may  say  many 
true  and  strong  things ;  but  they  are  so  mixed  up 
with  weaker  reasons,  so  tangled  with  secondary 
considerations,  that  they  lose  half  their  weight. 
This  power  of  intellectual  emphasis  was  very 
marked  in  Daniel  Webster,  and  was  the  secret  of 
much  of  his  force.    It  often  makes  a  great  difference 


EMPHASIS  IN  RELIGION  AND  LIFE.        53 

between  preachers.  I  have  listened  to  sermons 
which  contained  many  excellent  thoiiglits  and  im- 
portant truths,  but  none  were  made  prominent 
enough  to  be  remembered.  The  power  of  the  late 
George  Putnam  consisted  in  his  having  one  impor- 
tant thought  in  each  sermon,  which  he  illustrated 
and  enforced  by  various  arguments,  and  to  which 
he  held  from  beginning  to  end.  Therefore  you 
remembered  each  of  his  sermons,  and  its  one  moral 
remained  with  you.  Intellectual  power  consists  in 
a  large  degree  in  being  able  to  see  what  truths  are 
primary,  fundamental,  and  essential,  the  master- 
lights  of  all  our  seeing.  It  is  to  hold  these  primary 
truths  rooted  in  the  mind  as  miclianging  convic- 
tions, solid  as  the  granite  foundations  of  the  earth. 
The  mind  which  has  no  such  settled  convictions  is 
like  a  wave  of  the  sea,  driven  with  the  wind  and 
tossed.  Such  a  mind,  nnable  to  grasp  any  truth 
firmly,  or  to  arrive  at  a  definite  conclusion  on  any 
subject,  is  necessarily  a  weak  one.  To  liold  our- 
selves in  doubt  while  our  opinions  are  not  formed 
is  riolit ;  but  to  still  doubt  our  conclusion  after  we 
lia^e  come  to  it  and  seen  it  clearly,  shows  a  want 
of  mental  vigor.  Mr.  Emerson  once  said,  "I  am 
a  perpetual  seeker,  with  no  past  beliind  me."  But 
he  certainly  did  not  mean  by  this  that  he  was 
without  fixed  convictions,  for  no  man  has  been 
more  constant  than  he  to  certain  primary  truths; 
no  one  has  had  more  mental  emphasis  of  thought 
and  utterance  than  he. 


54  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

True  emphasis  in  morals  consists  in  laying  stress 
where  stress  ought  to  be  laid,  and  making  that 
important  which  ought  to  be  so.  The  lives  of  many 
good  men  want  emphasis.  They  are  negatively 
good.  Their  goodness  is  not  pronounced.  They 
seem  to  drift  rather  than  steer.  But  goodness  im- 
plies, first  of  all,  having  a  good  aim,  a  good  intention, 
meaning  something,  aiming  steadily  at  something. 
Alas  !  the  lives  of  so  many  have  no  emphasis.  They 
do  things  because  others  do  them,  because  it  is  the 
custom  to  do  them,  not  because  it  is  right.  But 
how  invio;oratino^  it  is  to  see  those  who  are  a  law 
to  themselves,  who  are  ready  to  do  wdiat  is  right 
whether  other  men  hear  or  forbear.  These  men 
are  the  salt  of  society.  Tliey  may  often  seem 
harsh,  severe,  intolerant;  but  tlieir  intolerance  is 
better  than  the  w-eak  concession  of  so  many.  I 
would  rather  be  criticised,  though  unjustly,  by  a 
righteous  man,  than  have  the  commendation  of  a 
thousfhtless  multitude. 

o 

In  our  complex  society  we  need  stress  laid  on 
right  purpose  to  call  our  attention  to  what  is  good. 
Therefore  we  have  societies  for  different  good  ob- 
jects, each  laying  emphasis  on  some  one  thing. 
The  temperance  societies  emphasize  temperance, 
and  oppose  the  indulgence  which  does  so  much 
harm.  They  call  attention  to  the  misery  which 
comes  from  drink ;  the  woe,  the  cruel  sufferings  of 
waives  and  children  resulting  from  this  awful  social 
curse.     The  societies  to  prevent  cruelty  to  animals 


EMPHASIS  IN  RELIGION  AND  LIFE.        ^^ 

emphasize  the  right  of  our  poor  dumb  brethren, 
whom  God  has  given  us  to  protect,  and  whom  we 
so  often  ill  treat  and  abuse.  Such  a  society  does 
what  no  individual  can.  It  compels  the  inatten- 
tive public  to  see  that  animals  have  rights  which 
we  are  all  bound  to  respect.  It  was  well  when 
a  man  in  Plymouth  was  sent  to  the  State  Prison 
for  three  years  for  cruelly  maiming  a  horse ;  for  this 
punishment  will  make  hundreds  of  others  under- 
stand that  horses  also  have  the  great  arm  of  law 
stretched  out  for  their  protection.  If  the  Aboli- 
tion Society  had  not  so  strenuously  emphasized  the 
great  wrong  of  slavery,  we  might  never  have  had 
emancipation.  Other  societies  emphasize  the  rights 
of  children,  the  rights  of  the  poor,  the  rights  of 
women  to  equality  before  the  law.  I  think  we 
need  them  all.  We  need  to  have  our  dull  attention 
constantly  recalled  to  these  claims.  We  may  think 
the  advocates  of  some  particular  reforms  extravagant, 
w^e  may  think  that  what  they  say  is  in  bad  taste, 
that  they  lay  an  undue  emphasis  on  this  or  that 
method.;  but  the  important  thing  is  to  have  each  and 
all  of  these  reforms  made  distinct  and  clear,  to  keep 
men  from  forgetting  them.  We  ought  to  be  willing 
to  tolerate  a  little  intolerance  in  a  good  cause,  for 
the  essential  thing  is  to  have  some  one  who  shall 
cry  aloud  and  spare  not  when  the  community  sleeps 
over  an  evil.  If  there  is  too  much  steam,  it  may 
easily  blow  itself  off;  but  at  all  events  let  us  have 
enough  to  make  the  vessel  move  forward. 


56  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

A  friend  brought  to  me  a  day  or  two  since  a 
gi'eat  curiosity,  one  of  the  most  precious  autographs 
I  ever  saw.  It  was  the  identical  letter  written  in 
1775  by  Benjamin  Franklin  to  a  member  of  Parlia- 
ment who  had  voted  for  the  stamp  act  and  other 
oppressive  acts  of  tlie  British  Government  toward 
the  colonies.     It  ran  thus  :  — 

Philadelphia,  July  5,  1775. 

Mr.  Strahan,  —  Sir:  You  are  a  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, and  one  of  tliat  Majority  which  has  doomed  my 
country  to  Destruction.  You  have  begun  to  burn  our 
Towns  and  murder  our  People.  Look  upon  your  Hands. 
They  are  stained  with  the  Blood  of  your  Relatives. 
You  and  I  were  long  Friends.     You  are  now  my  Enemy, 

and  I  am  Yours, 

B.  Frankliit. 

There  is  emphasis  in  that  letter.  It  gives  no 
uncertain  sound. 

Why  do  we  keep  the  birthday  of  Washington  ?" 
We  reverence  Washington,  not  merely  as  the  great 
commander,  whose  perfect  judgment,  patience,  for- 
titude, carried  the  country  through  the  Ptevolution  ; 
not  only  as  the  wise  statesman  on  whom  the  nation 
leaned  during  its  hours  of  uncertainty,  but  most  of 
albas  a  man  whose  life  was  emphasized  by  con- 
science. As  long  as  the  memory  of  Washington 
lasts,  we  know  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  un- 
bending principle,  unconquerable  patriotism.  No 
matter  how  many  great  men  prove  false  or  weak, 
we  know  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  justice  and 


EMPHASIS  IN  RELIGION  AND  LIFE.        57 

honor.  How  wonderful  is  the  power  which  goes 
forth  from  such  a  life  !  After  centuries  have  passed, 
it  is  still  the  strength  of  a  people,  — the  inspiration 
of  national  character.  If  Washington's  goodness 
had  not  possessed  this  emphasis,  it  could  not  liave 
exercised  such  an  influence. 

In  religion  also  true  emphasis  consists  in  lay- 
ing enough  stress,  and  in  laying  it  on  the  right 
thing.  If  there  is  a  God  who  protects  and  cares 
for  us,  in  whom  we  live  and  move  and  breathe,  to 
whom  we  are  accountable,  a  Father  and  Friend 
and  Helper,  what  is  more  essential  in  our  life  than 
this  ?  It  is  either  nothing  or  all  Yet  continually 
our  religious  life  tends  to  be  a  mere  habit,  —  our 
faith  shrinks  to  an  opinion ;  inspiration  ceases  out 
of  our  days  ;  we  have  no  open  vision  ;  we  live  by 
the  memory  of  a  past  experience.  Therefore  we 
need  always  to  have  men  and  women  near  us 
whose  religion  has  emphasis,  who  do  not  think 
they  believe,  but  speak  that  which  they  know  and 
testify  of  what  they  have  seen.  This  renews  our 
own  life.  Blessed  be  God,  who  never  leaves  him- 
self without  some  such  witness  of  his  truth.  These 
persons,  in  whom  religious  conviction  is  no  vain 
repetition  of  past  belief,  but  a  fountain  of  new  life, 
new  love,  free  as  air,  fresh  as  the  morning,  cheer- 
ful as  sunshine,  solid  as  the  primitive  rock,  —  these 
are  they  who  make  God  seem  present  and  real 
to  us  also,  and  immortality  close  at  hand.  These 
are  the  men  and  women  whom  God  sends  as  his 


58  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

prophets  from  age  to  age,- — the  Eoman  Catholic 
and  Protestant  saints,  Saint  Francis,  Charles  Borro- 
meo,  Wesley,  the  Huguenots,  Channing,  —  to  rouse 
men  from  their  dreary  sleep  in  routine  and  sin. 

But  there  is  always  danger,  not  only  of  too  little 
religious  emphasis,  but  also  of  wrong  emphasis. 
"We  may  lay  stress  on  unessential  things  till  we 
fail  to  see  what  is  essential.  That  was  why  Jesus 
blamed  the  Pharisees.  They  insisted  on  matters  of 
secondary  importance;  they  gave  tithes  of  mint, 
anise,  and  cummin,  and  forgot  the  weightier  matters 
of  the  law, — judgment,  mercy,  faith,  love.  They 
put  the  religious  emphasis  in  the  wrong  place. 

So  now  the  emphasis  in  religion  is  put  in  the 
wrong  place  when  it  is  laid  on  profession,  ritual, 
sacraments,  creeds,  instead  of  upon  life  and  charac- 
ter. The  prophets  never  committed  this  mistake. 
"  To  what  purpose  the  multitude  of  your  sacrifices 
unto  me  ?  saith  the  Lord :  I  am  weary  to  bear 
them.  Cease  to  do  evil ;  learn  to  do  well.  Seek 
justice,  relieve  the  oppressed,  judge  the  fatherless, 
plead  for  the  widow,"  is  the  message  of  Isaiah. 
"  Let  us  hear  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter," 
says  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes.  "  Fear  God  and 
keep  his  commandments  ;  for  this  is  the  whole  duty 
of  man  "  "  What  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee," 
said  the  prophet  Micah,  "  but  to  do  justly,  and 
love  mercy,  and  walk  humbly  with  thy  God  ? " 
And  Jesus  summed  up  the  whole  law  in  love  to 
God  and  man. 


EMPHASIS  IN  RELIGION  AND  LIFE.        59 

The  perfect  emphasis  of  the  life  of  Christ  has 
been  one  source  of  his  authority  over  mankind.  In 
him  e*^erything  had  its  proper  place, —  nothing  ex- 
cessive, nothing  wanting.  The  great  purpose  of  his 
being  was  to  do  the  will  of  his  Father,  to  be 
about  his  Father's  business,  to  finish  the  work 
given  him  to  do.  But  while  the  main  current  of 
his  course  ran  steadily  toward  this  end,  he  could 
also  feel  for  human  sorrows,  help  the  sufferers,  be 
glad  with  the  happy,  and  weep  with  the  sad.  So 
his  life  was  full,  rounded,  and  liarmonious.  This  is 
what  Paul  means  by  "  the  fulness  of  the  stature  of 
Christ." 

The  other  day  I  saw  that  a  man  had  put  on  his 
wife^s  gravestone  the  words,  "  She  was  saved  by  the 
atonement  of  Christ."  But  the  atonement,  as  usually 
understood,  is  a  doctrine  about  Christ,  and  no  one 
can  be  saved  by  such  a  dogma.  The  emphasis  was 
wrong.  How  much  better  the  inscriptions  in  the 
Catacombs  :  "  She  is  safe  in  Christ,"  "  She  is  at 
peace  in  God,"  "  She  rests  in  hope." 

We  sometimes  listen  to  speakers  who,  by  empha- 
sizing every  sentence  and  word,  fail  to  make  any- 
thing emphatic.  A  like  harm  is  done  by  religious 
talk,  which  carries  words  about  religion  into  every- 
thing, and  so  becomes  cant.  But  when  a  man  who 
is  not  in  the  habit  of  talkinf]^  about  his  relii^ion 
says  a  single  word  which  shows  his  faith  in  God 
and  eternity,  it  makes  an  impression  on  us.  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  did  not  generally  pass  for  a  religious 


60  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

man.  His  religion  was  too  deep  down,  too  far  in, 
for  many  words.  All  the  more  we  value  the  evi- 
dence we  have  of  it.  We  learn  from  Mr.  Chase  that 
when  Lincoln  finally  told  his  Cabinet  that  he  was 
determined  to  sign  the  Emancipation  Proclamation, 
he  said:  "I  have  waited  till  I  am  sure  the  time  has 
come.  The  nation  is  ready  for  it.  The  best  men 
demand  it.  Besides,"  he  added,  in  a  low  tone,  as 
if  speaking  to  himself,  "I  promised  my  God,  when 
Lee  was  driven  out  of  Maryland,  that  I  would  do 
it."  When  an  earnest  man  says  a  thing  like  that, 
we  know  that  he  has  been  walking  with  God. 

To  put  the  right  emphasis  into  our  lives,  we  also 
must  walk  with  God.  Churches,  Sundays,  Bibles, 
are  important  as  influences ;  but  the  emphasis  of 
life  must  go  beyond  them  all,  down  to  that  re- 
gion of  the  soul  where  man  is  alone  with  his  God. 
That  alone  gives  us  strength  in  our  weakness,  com- 
fort in  our  sorrow,  and  makes  our  life  here  lean 
the  right  way.  We  must  have  an  inward  personal 
conviction,  a  faith  which  goes  below  all  language, 
which  is  like  that  of  a  child  who  simply  holds  his 
father's  hand  and  so  feels  safe.  God  comes  near 
to  us  when  we  might  be  afraid  to  come  near  him. 
So  he  fills  our  days  with  sweetness  and  strength, 
lifts  us  above  forms,  solemn  words  and  looks,  re- 
liance on  ritual,  worry  about  opinions  and  churches, 
and  gives  us  a  life  hid  with  Christ  in  himself 


SPEAKING    THE    TRUTH   IN  LOVE. 


SPEAKING  THE  TRUTH  IN  LOVE. 


nnO  speak  the  truth,  or  what  seems  to  be  truth  to 
-*-  us,  is  not  a  very  hard  thing,  provided  we  do 
not  care  what  harm  we  do  by  it,  or  whom  we  hurt 
by  it.  This  kind  of  "truth-telling  "  has  been  always 
common.  Such  truth-tellers  call  themselves  plain, 
blunt  men,  who  say  what  they  think,  and  do  not 
care  who  objects  to  it.  A  man  who  has  a  good  deal 
of  self-reliance  and  not  much  sympathy,  can  get 
a  reputation  for  courage  by  this  way  of  speak- 
ing the  truth.  But  the  difficulty  about  it  is,  that 
truth  thus  spoken  does  not  convince  or  convert  men ; 
it  only  offends  them.  It  is  apt  to  seem  unjust ;  and 
injustice  is  not  truth. 

Some  persons  thinl^'that  unless  truth  is  thus 
hard  and  disagreeable  it  cannot  be  pure.  Civility 
toward  error  seems  to/tliem  treason  to  the  truth. 
Truth  to  their  mind/  is  a  whip  with  which  to 
lash  men,  a  club  with  which  to  knock  them  down. 
They  regard  it  as  an  irritant  adapted  to  arouse 
sluggish  consciences. 


64  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

I  recollect  once,  at  an  Antislavery  meeting  in 
former  days,  one  of  the  sterner  sort  of  Abolitionists 
suddenly  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  said,  "We  are  not 
doing  our  duty.  See  how  quietly  and  peacefully  the 
audience  are  listening  to  us.  If  we  were  doing  our 
duty,  they  would  be  throwing  brickbats  at  us ! " 

In  the  same  way  it  has  been  a  common  theory  in 
the  religious  world  that  the  natural  human  heart  is 
so  opposed  to  truth  that  any  doctrine  which  does  not 
offend  men  must  be  false.  They  forget  that  the  com- 
mon people  heard  Jesus  gladly,  and  that  when  the 
apostles  first  preached  the  gospel,  three  thousand  per- 
sons gladly  received  the  word,  and  were  baptized. 

To  speak  the  truth  is  very  necessary.  More  of 
plain,  honest,  kindly,  affectionate  truth-telling  is 
much  wanted  in  the  world.  Very  few  people  get 
the  truth  told  them  which  they  need  to  hear  and 
ought  to  hear.  People  say  behind  their  backs  what 
is  never  said  to  their  face.  A  fault  which  they 
might  easily  correct,  if  they  knew  of  it,  they  con- 
tinue to  commit  all  their  lives,  because  they  have 
no  friend  manly  enough  or  kind  enough  to  tell  them 
of  it.  Therefore  if  you  can  find  a  truth-teller  honest, 
direct,  straightforward,  and  at  the  sauie  time  kind, 
sympathizing,  and  loving,  you  have  found  a  friend 
worth  more  than  diamonds.  And  if  I  had  to  choose 
between  those  who  never  tell  me  my  faults  and 
those  who  tell  them  too  rudely,  I  ought  infinitely 
rather  to  prefer  the  harsh  and  rough  truth  to  the 
mild  and  civil  falsehood. 


SPEAKING   THE   TRUTH  IN  LOVE.  65 

Saadi,  the  Persian  poet,  tells  this  story :  "  A 
preacher  of  a  harsh  tone  of  voice  fancied  himself 
a  fine-spoken  man ;  but  the  croaking  of  a  raven 
seemed  the  burden  of  his  chant,  and  his  voice  was 
like  the  braying  of  an  ass.  In  reverence  for  his 
rank,  his  townsmen  indulged  the  defect,  and  would 
not  distress  him  by  remarking  on  it,  till  another 
preacher,  who  disliked  him,  came  and  said,  '  I  have 
seen  you  in  a  dream ;  may  it  prove  fortunate.'  He 
replied,  '  Wliat  have  you  seen  ? '  He  answered,  '  It 
seemed  in  my  vision  that  your  croaking  voice  had 
become  harmonious.'  For  a  while  the  preacher 
bowed  his  head  in  thought,  then  raised  it,  and  said : 
'  What  a  fortunate  vision,  which  has  made  me  sensi- 
ble of  my  weakness  !  I  am  now  aware  that  I  have 
an  unpleasant  voice,  and  that  the  people  are  dis- 
tressed at  my  delivery.  I  will  try,  henceforth,  to 
speak  more  softly.  My  friends  distress  me  who  ex- 
tol my  vices  as  though  they  were  virtues,  and  regard 
my  thorns  as  roses.  Where  is  that  rude  enemy  who 
will  tell  me  all  my  deformities  ? ' " 

Schiller,  the  German  poet,  tells  us,  in  one  of  his 
couplets,  much  the  same  thing :  — 

"  My  friend  helps  me  ;  my  foe  is  also  useful  to  me. 
The  one  shows  me  what  I  am  able  to  be  ;  the  other,  what 
I  ought  to  be." 

And  Confucius,  the  wise  man  of  China,  says  in 
his  "  Table  Talk  "  :  "I  am  a  fortunate  man  ;  if  I  do 
anything  wrong,  I  am  sure  to  be  told  of  it." 

6 


6Q  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

But  we  are  not  all  as  noble  as  Schiller  and  Con- 
fucius, and  therefore  we  are  apt  to  resent  being 
charged  with  faults  and  follies  of  which  we  are 
not  aware.  Hence  it  is  important  that,  while  we 
are  told  the  truth,  we^  should  be  told  it  in  such  a 
way  as  to  make  us  feel  that  it  is  spoken,  not  as  cold 
criticism,  not  in  a  tone  of  superiority,  not  as  if  the 
speaker  took  pleasure  in  fault-finding;  but  as  the 
faithful  wound  of  a  friend,  the  truth  which  is  mar- 
ried to  love,  the  higher  generosity  which  is  willing 
to  encounter  our  resentment  in  order  to  do  good  to 
our  soul. 

To  tell  truth  in  this  way  is  a  high  art,  and  comes 
from  a  noble  temper.  Happy  is  he  who  has  such 
a  friend,  —  a  friend  able  to  see  tlie  good  and  the 
evil  in  his  heart,  whose  love  is  full  of  insight, 
recognizing  every  good  purpose,  every  longing  after 
right,  every  conflict  with  wrong,  and  who  yet  can 
see  and  say  what  more  is  needed,  what  better  things 
may  be  done.  What  higher  compliment  can  be  paid 
us  than  faith  that  we  are  strong  enough  to  be  told 
of  our  faults,  that  we  are  magnanimous  enough  to 
wish  to  know  them  ?  The  world  is  sick  because  of 
shams,  pretences,  empty  shows,  forms  which  have 
nothing  left  in  them  but  dead  habit.  Every  age 
needs  its  prophets  to  rouse  it  from  its  deadly  sleep 
in  some  dear,  delightful  falsehood.  These  prophets 
have  a  hard  time  of  it ;  they  are  usually  stoned, 
beaten,  killed ;  they  have  to  make  tlieir  faces  hard 
as  a  flint,  and  to  speak  their  word  whether  men 


SPEAKING   THE   TRUTH  IN  LOVE.  67 

will  hear  or  forbear.  They  have  a  prophet's  reward, 
—  hard  work,  plenty  of  opposition ;  but  an  inward 
conviction  that  they  are  right,  and  must  triumph  at 
last. 

Truth  is  the  salt  of  the  earth.  What  is  life  good 
for  without  it  ?  What  is  any  man  good  for  who 
does  not  care  for  truth  ?  If  you  ask  yourself 
why  you  respect  any  one,  you  will  find  it  to  be  be- 
cause there  is  in  him  an  element  of  truth.  He  has 
real  convictions.  He  believes  something.  He  cares 
for  matters  outside  his  own  selfish  interests ;  he 
is  moved  to  joy  by  the  sight  of  what  is  just  and 
generous;  he  is  thrilled  witli  indignation  by  the 
knowledge  of  what  is  wicked.  He  believes  in  the 
things  unseen  ;  he  believes  in  God ;  he  believes  in 
some  great  divine  power  above  all,  through  all,  in 
all.  He  may  be  a  Pagan,  and  call  God  Jupiter ;  he 
may  be  a  Hindoo,  and  call  him  Brahm ;  he  may  be 
a  Calvinist,  and  believe  God  an  arbitrary  being  who 
makes  some  of  liis  children  for  heaven  and  some  for 
hell,  —  but,  at  all  events,  he  believes  something,  and 
that  is  better  than  not  believing.  Without  belief 
there  is  no  earnestness,  and  without  earnestness  life 
is  intolerable.  Unless  we  are  in  earnest  about  some- 
thing, what  is  the  use  of  living  ? 

To  believe  something,  even  if  it  be  mixed  with 
error,  is  better  than  to  believe  notliing ;  for  belief 
implies  tlie  love  of  truth,  and  this  is  the  first  step 
toward  truth  itself.  There  are  two  kinds  of  truth : 
inward  truth,  truth  to  one's  self,  or  truthfulness ; 


68  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

and  secondly,  knowledge  of  reality,  or  outward 
truth.  Both  kinds  of  truth  are  essential  to  good- 
ness and  happiness.  They  make  the  difference  be- 
tween right  and  wrong,  good  and  evil,  going  forward 
and  going  backward. 

But,  beside  truth,  there  is  another  and  an  op- 
posite virtue,  which  is  love.  These  two  make  up 
the  whole  of  goodness.  Truth  is  one  element,  and 
love  the  other.  They  are  different  and  opposite 
qualities,  but  necessary  to  each  other.  Neither  will 
sufiice  alone. 

Some  men  have  truth  but  have  not  love.  Their 
truth  is  hard,  cold,  overbearing,  dogmatical.  They 
do  not  speak  it  in  love.  They  drive  men,  they  do 
not  lead  them.  There  is  nothing  attractive,  mag- 
netic, about  them.  They  scold  and  rail  at  those 
wlio  differ  from  them.  We  cannot  but  feel  a  certain 
respect  for  them,  but  we  do  not  like  them.  What 
they  say  may  be  the  truth,  but  we  are  not  attracted 
by  it.     Truth  without  love  does  not  seem  beautiful. 

So  there  are  other  men  who  have  love  but  not 
truth.  They  are  full  of  good-will,  overflowing  with 
sympathy,  but  do  not  help  us,  because  they  have 
no  stamina,  no  strength  of  their  own.  They  are  dis- 
posed to  give  to  others,  but  they  have  nothing  to 
give.  They  sympathize  with  us  whether  we  are 
right  or  wrong,  good  or  bad.  They  are  a  "  mush  of 
concession."  Their  love,  being  without  truth,  does 
not  do  us  good. 

If  you    try   to   carry  out   truth  or   love  to   its 


SPEAKING   THE  TRUTH  IN  LOVE.  69 

ultimate  separately,  you  spoil  both.  Take  for  ex- 
ample the  case  of  a  man  who  is  in  love  with  truth. 
"  I  will  tell  the  truth  always"  he  says,  " regardless 
of  consequences."  What,  will  you  tell  a  madman 
the  truth  ?  Will  you  tell  a  child  the  whole  truth  ? 
Will  you  always  tell  all  the  truth  to  every  one  ? 
Will  you  have  no  reserve?  By  such  a  course 
society  would  be  dissolved.  The  early  Quakers 
tried  this  plan.  They  tried  to  be  perfectly  truthful ; 
to  have  their  yea,  yea,  and  their  nay,  nay.  They 
said  thee  instead  of  you,  because  to  use  the  plural 
number  when  speaking  to  one  man  seemed  to  them 
false.  One  Quaker  refused  to  wear  clothes  which 
had  been  dyed,  because  it  involved  deception.  But 
what  was  the  result  ?  Avoiding  forms  and  wishing 
to  follow  the  immediate  impulse  of  the  Spirit,  tliey 
present  the  curious  anomaly  of  an  outcome  of  the 
most  rigid  formalism.  Truth  in  the  letter  at  last 
seemed  to  harden  and  freeze,  and  to  destroy  truth 
in  tlie  spirit.  This  is  the  inevitable  result  of  a 
one-sided  development. 

Every  good  character  is  composed  of  truth  and 
love.  Think  of  the  person  you  have  loved  best  in 
the  world.  It  was  some  one  who  had  a  character 
of  his  own,  rooted  in  the  love  of  truth  and  right, 
who  would  not  give  way,  but  stood  firm  according 
to  his  conscience ;  but  who,  while  thus  strong  in 
himself,  was  tender  and  generous  toward  others.  He 
could  forgive  others,  and  be  more  tolerant  toward 
them  than  toward  himself 


70  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

It  is  this  union  of  sincerity  and  good-will  which 
constitutes  the  nobleness  of  man.  The  man  who 
is  strong  in  some  rooted  convictions,  who  stands 
firm  on  his  sense  of  right,  and  yet  whose  generosity 
flows  steadily  in  a  current  of  helpfulness  to  those 
around  him,  is  the  pillar  of  society.  Such  men  are 
the  pivots  around  which  progress  and  improvement 
turn.  They  give  beauty  and  dignity  to  a  com- 
munity. 

This  twofold  element  of  truth  and  love  must  go 
into  every  action  to  make  it  good.  Every  good 
deed  must  partake  of  both  qualities.  If  I  do  a 
kind  act  simply  from  good  nature ;  if  I  give  money 
merely  because  I  am  asked  to  give  it,  without  stop- 
ping to  think  whether  it  is  right  to  do  it  and  if 
it  will  do  real  good,  then  my  good  nature  is  the 
merest  weakness ;  it  has  no  substance  in  it.  It  is 
only  the  selfish  desire  to  escape  trouble.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  I  am  honest,  just,  and  truthful  in 
anything  merely  for  my  own  sake,  and  do  not  care 
how  my  honesty  or  truth  helps  or  hurts  others; 
if  I  blurt  out  unnecessarily  and  harshly  whatever 
I  think  to  be  truth,  then  my  truth  ceases  to  be 
truth,  and  becomes  only  self-will  and  obstinacy. 
You  cannot  find  a  single  good  action  which  has  not 
involved  in  it  this  twofold  element,  and  in  propor- 
tion as  they  are  well  balanced,  goodness  grows  into 
beauty,  and  conduct  is  not  only  riglit,  but  also 
lovely. 

One  of  the  peculiarities  of  Jesus  was  that  in  him 


SPEAKING   THE   TRUTH  IN  LOVE.  71 

the  love  of  truth  and  the  love  of  man  were  in  com- 
plete harmony.  His  truth  was  never  hard,  his  kind- 
ness never  weak.  His  justice  was  not  cold  law  ; 
his  tenderness  no  effeminate  good  nature.  His 
love  had  an  edge  to  it ;  it  was  no  rose-water 
philanthropy.  He  was  the  most  earnest  reformer 
who  ever  appeared  in  the  world ;  and  yet  we  do 
not  think  of  him  as  such,  because  his  severity  was 
so  filled  with  warmth,  and  with  that  actinic  ray 
which  makes  all  seeds  swell,  all  buds  open  into  blos- 
som. Yet  look  at  it.  He  came  to  take  up  many 
things  by  the  roots,  this  most  uncompromising  of 
radicals.  He  seemed  to  the  Jews  to  overthrow  all 
that  was  most  venerable  in  their  religion.  Jerusa- 
lem was  no  sacred  city  to  him.  Man  may  worship 
God  everywhere.  The  Sabbath  is  no  holy  day 
in  itself,  but  only  good  as  it  serves  man ;  the  Tem- 
ple must  pass  away,  with  its  awful  and  holy  cere- 
monies. He  instituted  a  religion  without  priest, 
temple,  altar,  book,  or  day.  In  the  destructive 
analysis  of  his  criticism  all  forms  and  creeds  Avere 
dissolved,  and  nothing  remained  but  love  to  God 
and  man.  And  yet  all  this  destruction  was  so  con- 
stantly for  the  sake  of  something  positive,  that  he 
could  say  truly,  "  I  came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  ful- 
fil." Tlie  Jewish  Sabbath  went,  but  it  was  fulfilled 
in  the  profound  peace  of  hearts  resting  from  all 
anxiety  in  the  grace  of  God.  The  Temple  passed, 
but  worship  remained,  the  worship  of  a  little  child 
clinging  to  his  father's  hand.      The  law  of  Moses 


72  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

came  to  an  end,  but  that  also  was  fulfilled  in  a 
joy  which  was  its  own  security,  in  love  which  was 
an  unerring  liglit.  Jesus  in  his  word  and  in  his 
life  was  truth  spoken  in  love.  His  love  went  out 
further  than  human  love  had  ever  gone,  so  that  it 
reached  those  furthest  out  and  furthest  away.  His 
perfect  holiness  and  purity  led  him  to  condemn  all 
sin,  but  his  perfect  humanity  led  him  to  save  every 
sinner.  Thus  in  him  mercy  and  truth  met  together, 
righteousness  and  peace  kissed  each  other.  Since 
he,  so  pure  and  holy,  could  yet  love  the  sinner  and 
give  his  life  for  him,  we  see  how  God  can  love  us, 
even  when  we  are  most  sinful  and  evil. 

All  conflicts  of  duty  resolve  themselves  at  last 
into  this  antagonism  of  truth  and  love.  If  you 
ever  feel  a  real  difficulty  as  to  what  your  duty  is, 
you  will  find,  on  looking  into  it,  that  truth  seems  to 
be  pulling  you  one  way  and  love  the  other.  A  man 
comes  to  you  with  a  tale  of  woe.  Love  says,  "  Help 
him."  Truth  says,  "No.  Perhaps  he  is  an  impos- 
tor. In  that  case,  your  helping  him  will  do  harm, 
not  trood."  You  hear  thinos  said  and  done  in  soci- 
ety  whicli  seem  to  you  false  and  evil.  Truth  says, 
"  Protest  against  them.  Denounce  tliem.  Expose 
them."  Love  replies,  "  No.  What  right  have  you 
to  stab,  cut,  wound  people  who  may  be  right  after 
all  ?  And  what  good  will  it  do  ?  It  will  only  dis- 
please and  offend  them."  You  see  many  customs 
and  habits  which  appear  false  and  evil.  Truth 
says,  "  Come  out  and  be  separate  from  them.     Do 


SPEAKING  THE   TRUTH  IN  LOVE.  73 

not  conform.  Go  your  own  way.  Do  what  seems 
to  you  to  be  riglit,  no  matter  what  others  may  think 
or  say."  Love  says,  "  No  !  That  will  do  no  good. 
They  will  not  understand  you,  and  you  will  lose  all 
your  influence  by  such  eccentricity."  We  are  con- 
stantly tormented  by  these  difficulties ;  these  cases 
of  conscience  come  every  day  to  every  conscientious 
person,  and  most  of  them  at  last  will  be  found  to 
resolve  themselves  into  this  eternal  antaf^onism  of 
truth  on  the  one  side  and  love  on  the  other. 

And  the  solution  of  such  difficulties  is  to  be 
sought,  not  in  thought,  but  in  life.  Intellectually, 
many  of  these  difficulties  are  insoluble.  The  old 
Catholic  writers  wrote  volumes  of  casuistry,  or  works 
on  cases  of  conscience,  in  wliich  they  tried  to  find 
an  intellectual  solution  for  these  moral  difficulties. 
That  literature  is  forgotten,  for  it  was  ineffectual 
and  useless.  But  if  a  man  is  living  in  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  if  he  is  full  of  the  love  of  truth,  the  sense  of 
justice,  honor,  purity,  virtue,  and  at  the  same  time 
full  of  humanity,  good-will,  charity ;  then,  when  a 
difficulty  comes,  he  will  discover  some  practical 
solution.  In  proportion  to  the  fulness  of  his  re- 
ligious life  the  solution  will  be  the  most  profitable 
and  satisfactory. 

Truth  without  love,  in  religion,  is  dogmatism. 
It  is  overbearing,  cold,  bitter.  It  hunts  for  heresies, 
and  persecutes  the  lieretic.  Truth  without  love 
founded  the  Inquisition,  tortured  and  burned  un- 
believing Jews  and  Protestants.     Its  zeal  is  cruel. 


74  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

In  modern  times,  truth  without  love  does  not  per- 
secute, but  it  slanders  —  it  is  unrelenting,  unsym- 
pathizing.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  a  religious 
newspaper,  carried  on  in  the  interest  of  a  sect,  is 
often  just  as  one-sided  and  partisan  as  a  political 
newspaper,  and  has  as  little  Christianity  in  it. 

Truth  without  love,  in  education,  created  that 
harsh  system  in  which  knowledge  was  driven  into 
the  minds  of  children  by  blows,  and  the  beauties 
of  science,  literature,  art,  were  made  odious  to  the 
child's  mind  by  associations  with  scolding  and  pun- 
ishment. Fortunately  for  the  coming  generation 
that  brutal  system  is  passing  away,  and  little  chil- 
dren can  hereafter  take  their  fill  of  knowledge  with 
gladness  of  heart. 

Truth  without  love,  in  the  home,  makes  it  cold 
and  cheerless.  The  inmates  may  do  their  duty 
to  each  other,  but  without  any  genial  sympathy. 
Thus  home  becomes  prosaic  and  uninteresting,  and 
life  grows  gray  and  the  vital  spring  is  gone. 

The  cure  for  these  evils  is  more  faith  in  God 
and  a  better  religion.  We  can  unite  truth  with 
love,  love  with  truth,  only  as  we  are  in  communion 
with  Him,  the  fountain  of  spiritual  life.  That  union 
makes  the  soul  at  once  tender  and  strong,  pure  and 
generous,  just  and  merciful.  We  can  pardon  weak- 
ness in  others,  because  we  know  we  so  much  need 
pardon  ourselves.  When  we  see  in  God  the  infi- 
nite, all-embracing  tenderness,  the  power  which  is 
also  goodness,  the  Father  who  cares  for  every  child. 


SPEAKING   THE   TRUTH  IN  LOVE.  75 

who  seeks  and  saves  the  lost,  and  rejoices  over  the 
repentance  of  every  sinner,  we  also  can  care  for  the 
souls  of  others  and  take  a  real  interest  in  them. 

The  true  atonement  of  Christ  was  not  that  he 
made  it  possible  for  God  to  forgive  his  penitent 
children,  for  God  always  could  and  did  forgive  the 
penitent.  But  it  was  showing,  in  his  own  person 
and  character,  how  truth  and  love  are  one,  how 
righteousness  and  peace  kiss  each  other,  and  that 
there  is  no  contradiction  between  justice  and  mercy. 
By  thus  uniting  them  in  himself,  he  showed  that 
they  are  one  in  God  ;  that  God  can  be  just  and 
yet  forgive  his  penitent  child  ;  that  as  Jesus  was 
holy  and  yet  loving,  God,  the  all-holy,  can  be  all- 
loving  too.  Thus  he  enables  us  to  trust  in  God, 
notwithstanding  our  faults,  and  come  confidently 
to  tlie  throne  of  omnipotence  to  find  grace  to  help 
in  time  of  need. 

And  as  Jesus  has  manifested  this  in  his  life,  and 
revealed  God's  holiness  and  love  as  one,  so  every 
good  man  and  woman  can  be  a  revelation  of  God  in 
the  same  way.  Every  one  whom  we  have  known  in 
whom  justice  and  mercy  were  united,  has  helped  us 
to  see  the  same  union  in  God,  and  so  has  brought 
us  near  to  him. 

Let  us,  therefore,  aim  high ;  let  us  not  be  satis- 
fied with  a  one-sided  virtue.  If  we  are  naturally 
sympathetic,  let  us  add  to  this,  strength  of  prin- 
ciple and  the  love  of  truth.  If  we  are  by  nature 
conscientious  and  truthful,  let  us  also  be  tender, 


76  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

kind,  merciful  and  generous ;  and  so  become  tlie 
true  children  of  our  Father  in  heaven,  who  lets  his 
sun  shine  on  the  evil  and  the  good,  and  sends  his 
rain  on  the  just  and  the  unjust. 

In  order  that  the  love  of  truth  may  not  pass  into 
empty  debate  and  verbal  controversy,  it  must  be 
joined  with  the  spirit  of  love  which  comes  from 
Christianity.  The  man  who  leads  a  religious  life, 
who  is  sensible  of  God's  presence  and  his  own 
accountability,  who  breathes  every  day  a  prayer  to 
Heaven  that  he  may  be  saved  from  evil  and  helped 
into  good,  who  looks  up  every  day  for  pardon, 
comfort,  and  strength,  and  looks  abroad  every  day 
to  find  how  to  serve  his  Master  and  Saviour,  —  he 
will  speak  the  truth,  but  speak  it  in  love.  He  will 
avoid  both  extremes.  The  spirit  witliin  him  will 
guide  him  aright.  That  which  no  study  of  the 
casuists  could  teach  him  will  be  done  for  him  by 
the  spirit  of  Christ  in  his  heart.  That  will  lead 
him  along  the  narrow  path  of  duty,  will  make  him 
faithful,  yet  gentle ;  true,  yet  kind ;  firm  in  his  pur- 
pose, mild  in  his  method ;  inflexible  in  his  principles, 
liberal  in  his  judgments.  When  such  a  one  speaks 
or  acts  we  feel  in  him  this  completeness  or  fulness 
of  the  moral  nature ;  he  is  not  one-sided,  not  ex- 
treme ;  he  walks  at  liberty  and  he  walks  securely ; 
being  led  by  the  spirit  of  God,  he  becomes  a  son 
of  God. 


VI. 
UNTRANSLATABLE  WOEDS. 


VI. 

UNTRANSLATABLE    WORDS. 


E 


VERY  one  knows  that,  strictly  speaking,  most 
.    .    words  are  almost  untranslatable.    It  is  always 
hard  to  find  an  exact  eciuivalent  for  any  word  which 
has  much  meaning.     There  are  no  exact  synonymes 
for  such  words  in  their  own  language,  and  nothing 
precisely  corresponding  to  them  in  another.     But 
this  difficulty  is  immensely  increased  when  these 
words  have  anv  subtle  aroma,  any  particular  charm, 
any  delicate  sentiment  attached  to  them.    Then  they 
become  absolutely  untranslatable.     The  very  qual- 
ity which  distinguishes  them  disappears  when  they 
are  transferred  into  a  different  phrase.     This  makes 
the  desperate  nature  of  the  attempt  to  translate 
poetry  from  one  language  into  another,  for  a  large 
part  of  the  charm  of  poetic  language  lies  m  the 
subtle  associations  connected  with  each  word.     We 
read  Viroil  or  Horace  in  the  best  English  trans- 
lations, Md  wonder  how  they  can  ever  have  been 
considered  such  great  writers.    Their  peculiar  aroma 
has  evaporated  while  they  were  being  poured  from 
one  receptacle  into   another.      The   reverse   takes 


80  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

place  wliicli  was  suggested  in  the  parable,  for  the 
old  wine  has  hurst  the  new  bottles,  and  the  wine 
has  been  spilled. 

Hence  it  happens  that  foreign  w^ords  are  so  often 
transported  bodily  from  one  language  into  another, 
or  left  untranslated  when  quoted  for  any  purpose. 
Words  which  cannot  be  translated  from  the  Latin, 
Greek,  French,  German,  are  adopted  into  English, 
and  naturalized.  Thus  every  language  is  enriched 
by  the  best  phrases  of  every  other.  This,  no  doubt, 
often  leads  to  pedantry,  conscious  or  unconscious. 
Foreign  words  are  used  when  English  ones  would  do 
as  well,  or  better.  So  we  have  introduced  the  Ger- 
man word  "hand-book,"  when  we  already  had  a  word 
witli  precisely  the  same  meaning,  "manual,"  and 
with  a  better  sound.  But  generally  these  immigra- 
tions from  foreign  parts  enrich  our  own  literature. 

Sometimes  words  are  left  untranslated  because 
they  seem  untranslatable.  Shakspeare  has  done  this, 
as  wdien  the  dying  Ca?sar  reproaches  Brutus  with 
the  words,  "And  thou,  too,  Brutus!"  Shakspeare 
has  left  it  in  the  Latin,  "  M  tu,  Brute  !  Then  die, 
Csesar.'*  There  seems  something  incongruous  in 
putting  a  Latin  and  an  English  clause  together  in 
the  same  line.  But  Shakspeare,  no  doubt,  found 
something  in  the  Latin  to  which  no  English 
words  —  not  even  his  own  —  could  do  justice. 

The  English  and  German  Bibles,  as  translations, 
are  as  nearly  perfect  as  anything  can  be,  —  I  mean 
as  a  whole,  and  in  their  impression  on  the  mind. 


UNTRANSLATABLE    WORDS.  81 

There  are  errors,  no  doubt,  which  ought  to  be  cor- 
rected ;  but  the  simplicity,  pathos,  sublimity  of  the 
language  cannot  be  surpassed.  In  these  great  Teu- 
tonic tongues  strength  and  tenderness  blend,  as  in 
the  original  writings.  Unfortunately,  the  language 
wliich  was  spoken  by  Jesus  and  his  disciples  in 
Galilee  has  disappeared.  There  is  no  gospel  extant 
in  the  words  which  were  uttered  on  the  lake  shore 
or  in  Capernaum.  A  few  fragnients,  however,  of 
that  old  speech  remain  in  the  New  Testament, — 
certain  words  so  full  of  tender  and  heavenly  asso- 
ciations that  they  were  left  untranslated  in  the 
Greek  gospels,  and  still  remain  untranslated  in  our 
English  Testament. 

Of  these  I  will  mention  five,  —  four  of  them 
uttered  by  Jesus,  and  one  by  Mary  Magdalene. 
Two  of  these  were  ex23ressions  of  j^ower;  one  was 
a  cry  of  anguish ;  another  was  an  utterance  of  un- 
unspeakable  tenderness;  the  last,  of  the  most  ardent 
faith. 

We  read  that  Jairus,  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue, 
came  to  Jesus,  earnestly  praying  him  to  come  and 
heal  his  little  daughter,  who  was  at  the  point  of 
death.  Jesus  comes  to  the  house,  goes  into  the 
room  with  only  three  of  his  disciples  —  Peter, 
James,  and  John  —  and  the  father  and  mother  of 
the  little  girl,  who  was  twelve  years  old.  Having 
put  out  those  whom  he  found  in  the  room,  he 
called,  saying,  "  Maid,  arise  ! "  This  is  what  Luke 
says,  who,  of  course,  was  not  present.     Matthew, 


82  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

he  who  was  not  in  the  room,  says  no  more.  But 
Mark,  who  reports  the  traditions  which  came  from 
Peter,  who  ivas  present,  gives  the  very  words  uttered 
by  Christ  in  the  language  of  the  people,  ''  Talitha 
cumi  I "  These  literally  mean,  "  My  lamb,  arise  ! " 
Peter  heard  those  words  ;  he  heard  the  divine 
tones  of  the  voice,  the  spirit  of  Jesus  going  from 
him  at  that  moment  with  power  whicli  penetrated 
the  dull  ear  of  death,  and  poured  a  mighty  vital 
influence  into  the  brain  and  nervous  centres. 
There  was  a  quality  in  those  two  words  which 
could  not  be  translated.  If  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  verbal  inspiration,  it  is  found  here  in  words 
instinct  with  some  divine  influence. 

In  the  same  Gospel  of  Mark  a  similar  quotation 
of  the  original  occurs  —  where  Jesus  cures  the 
deaf  man.  The  very  Aramaic  term  which  he  ut- 
tered is  given,  "  Eph-iohatha  !  "  —  "  be  opened  !  " 
There  was  something  also  in  that  phrase  which 
could  not  be  translated,  some  thrilling  tone  from 
the  depths  of  the  soul,  full  of  power  to  reach  the 
seat  of  life  in  the  soul  of  the  sufferer. 

Have  we  not  all  heard  some  such  tone  of  com- 
mand, of  authority,  when  the  whole  force  of  human 
will  seems  to  rush  into  the  voice,  and  give  it  such 
power  that  all  who  hear  are  swept  away  by  the 
irresistible  current  ?  Such  was  the  authority  of 
the  great  Lord  Chatham,  who  carried  in  his  very 
tones  a  weight  of  command  which  no  man  on  the 
floor  of  the  House  of  Commons  could  resist. 


UNTRANSLATABLE    WORDS.  83 

Many  qualities  of  the  soul  go  to  make  this  elo- 
quence. Sincerity,  conviction,  determination,  cour- 
age, intense  purpose.  But  in  the  voice  of  Jesus  how 
much  more  !  There  was  in  it  sometliinfr  not  human 
merely,  but  divine ;  a  heavenly  influence,  an  angelic 
force  coming  from  on  high.  No  wonder  that  Peter 
could  never  forget  those  syllables,  which  went  into 
his  heart  and  engraved  themselves  there  forever. 

Another  of  those  untranslatable  sentences  was 
that  uttered  on  the  cross,  "Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabach- 
thani  ! "  It  was  spoken  from  the  depths  of  a 
"divine  despair."  What  profound  pathos  in  that 
terrible  cry,  the  most  dreadful,  perliaps,  ever  uttered 
on  the  earth  !  Oh,  children  of  sorrow,  who  count  up 
your  miseries  and  complain  of  Providence,  listen  to 
that  wail  which  comes  down  tlirough  the  centuries 
in  the  very  words  in  which  it  was  spoken  !  What 
are  our  woes  and  sorrows,  our  selfish  and  momentary 
losses  ?  Has  not  that  mighty  heart  throbbed  with  a 
deeper  anguish  than  all  of  ours  ?  He  has  explored 
that  mystery  of  evil  far  below  the  depths  our  plum- 
met can  sound ;  for  it  takes  a  mighty  soul  to  bear  a 
mighty  sorrow.  Our  agonies  are  for  a  day,  and  for 
ourselves  alone.  He  saw  and  felt  for  the  miseries 
of  mankind.  For  a  moment  the  world  seemed  to 
him  forsaken  of  God,  left  to  go  its  own  way  into 
ruin.  That  was  the  blackest  hour  ever  seen  on 
earth,  when  even  the  hope  of  Jesus  was  darkened, 
though  but  for  a  moment.  I  know  that  he  quoted 
the  language  of  the  Psalm  of  David,  but  surely 


84  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

took  that  language  because  it  best  expressed  his 
own  sense  of  being  forsaken  of  his  Father,  of  being 
for  that  one  short  instant  without  God  in  the  world. 
And  thus  we  have  him  for  our  companion  in  the 
deepest  of  all  woes.  When  to  us  all  things  seem  to 
go  wrong,  and  there  is  no  sun  in  the  skies,  no  hope, 
no  courage,  no  sense  of  human  or  divine  love  ;  eA^en 
then  there  is  one  stay  left,  that  Jesus  has  been  down 
even  as  low  as  that  into  despair,  and  has  returned  to 
the  bosom  of  the  Father's  love.  This  is  the  anchor 
which  holds  still.  There  needs  no  scholastic  dogma 
of  God's  wrath  having  been  laid  on  him,  no  theo- 
logical figment  of  his  being  punished  in  our  place. 
He  bore  our  sins  and  carried  our  sorrows  in  a  more 
human  sense,  by  being  tried  in  all  points  as  we  are, 
and  3^et  remaining  sinless.  Having  suffered  such 
trials,  he  is  able  to  help  us,  tried  in  the  same  way. 
If  there  is  any  one  to  whom  life  seems  very  dark, 
and  God  far  away,  remember  that  Jesus,  God's 
blessed  son,  has  also  felt  this  weight  of  woe,  and 
yet  risen  above  it  alL 

The  next  untranslated  word  I  will  mention  is 
that  uttered,  not  b}'  Jesus  himself,  but  to  him,  by 
Mary  Magdalene,  when  she  first  recognized  him  on 
the  morning  of  the  resurrection.  It  was  the  echo 
returned  by  hev  voice  to  the  depths  of  love  in  his 
own.  "  Jesus  said  to  her,  Mary  !  She  answered, 
Bahboni  !  tliat  is,  Master  ! "  Why  was  that  foreign 
word  left  in  the  record  ?  Because  there  was  a  sound 
in  it  which  no  other  could  convey.     When  Mary 


UNTRANSLATABLE    WORDS.  85 

came  back  and  told  her  story,  and  they  asked  her, 
"  What  did  you  say  ? "  she  answered,  I  suppose,  "  I 
could  say  nothing.  I  could  only  burst  forth  in  one 
wild  cry  of  wonder,  joy,  love,  —  Rahhoni  I "  And 
when  she  repeated  it  to  them  there  still  lingered  in 
the  words  the  same  tones. 

Oh,  marvellous  history!  instinct  throughout  with 
all  the  experiences  of  the  human  heart;  how  we 
find  continually  as  we  study  it  fresh  proofs  of  its 
reality !  How  dull  our  eyes  if  they  do  not  see  in 
it  the  very  inspiration  of  truth !  How  human 
nature  shows  itself  in  every  line  of  this  divine 
narrative ! 

Have  we  not  felt  hours  of  similar  joy,  when, 
after  years  of  routine  and  sin,  of  discouragement 
and  doubt,  we  also  seem  again  to  meet  the  full 
smile  of  God  ?  Are  there  not  moments  when  this 
tide  of  heavenly  love  comes  to  us,  and  when  Jesus 
our  Master  seems  a  real  living  person  by  our  side  ? 
He  has  been  nailed  to  the  cross  by  our  sin,  he  has 
been  buried  in  the  tomb  of  our  black  despair,  he 
has  been  swathed  in  the  winding-sheet  of  some 
hard  theology,  or  our  Lord  lias  been  taken  away 
from  us  by  the  bigot  or  the  sceptic.  We  know  not 
where  they  have  laid  him.  The  dear  human  friend 
of  our  childhood  and  youth  has  gone,  and  in  his 
place  we  have  critical  doubts  or  theological  discus- 
sions. One  man,  with  vast  labor  and  iniienuitv, 
resolves  that  dear  life  into  legends  and  myths. 
Another  makes  of  it  a  supernatural  mystery.    But  at 


86  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

last,  as  we  read  the  Gospels,  the  whole  humanity  of 
Jesus  reappears  to  us.  We  see  him  there  again  as  we 
saw  him  in  our  childhood,  our  dear  human  brother. 
He  walks  by  our  side  once  more,  and  our  heart 
burns  within  us  by  the  way.  We  forget  all  these 
doubts  and  questions ;  we  leave  them  behind ;  we 
care  not  concerning  questions  of  natural  and  super- 
natural; the  mists  of  controversy  are  dissipated, 
and  the  face  of  our  best  friend  appears  to  us  again 
to  forgive,  to  comfort,  to  give  us  rest,  and  with 
Mary  we  can  only  say,  "  Rabboni  !  —  Master  I " 

These  little  incidental  proofs  of  the  truth  of  the 
Gospel  story  are  the  most  valuable  of  all.  These 
cannot  be  counterfeited.  They  are  hidden  deep  in 
the  texture  of  the  story,  and  only  appear  when  w^e 
look  very  closely  at  the  narrative.  But  they  are 
like  the  circumstantial  evidence,  which,  w^hen 
Avoven  into  a  complete  chain,  becomes  irresistible. 
A  thousand  little  traits,  each  in  itself  insignificant, 
combine  to  produce  an  overwhelming  sense  of 
reality. 

I  will  speak  of  only  one  other  specimen  of  the 
remains  of  an  ancient  language  wdiich  thus  con- 
tinues imbedded  in  the  strata  of  successive  trans- 
lations. It  is  that  in  Avhich  Jesus  cries  in  his 
prayer  in  the  garden,  "Abba!  Father!"  That 
word  abba  was  the  Aramaic-Syrian  form  of  the  in- 
fant's first  uttered  word,  and  equivalent  to  "  papa  " 
in  our  speech.  Paul  refers  to  it  afterwards  when  he 
says,  "  Because  we  are  sons,  God  has  put  his  spirit 


UNTRANSLATABLE   WORDS.  87 

in  our  hearts,  by  which  we  cry,  Abba!  Father!" 
The  disciples  did  n'ot  often  hear  their  Master  use 
this  word.  It  was  not  worn  hard  by  familiarity. 
It  had  not  become  a  mere  phrase,  as  it  too  often  is 
to  us.  It  kept  all  the  freshness  of  its  first  impres- 
sion. Jesus  did  not  pray  much  in  public.  He 
went  alone  into  the  mountain  to  pray.  He  told 
his  disciples  to  go  into  their  closets  to  pray,  and  to 
shut  the  door.  He  did  not  approve  praying  at  the 
corners  of  the  streets  to  be  seen  of  men.  Therefore 
I  suppose  even  the  disciples  did  not  hear  him  pray 
very  often.  But  sometimes  he  wished  them  to  be 
with  him ;  he  longed  to  have  them  by  his  side 
while  he  prayed.  And  then  they  heard  this  won- 
derful word,  "  Abba''  from  his  lips,  and  they  never 
forgot  the  tone  in  which  it  was  said :  "  Ahha ! 
Father  !  if  it  be  possible  let  this  cup  pass  away  • 
nevertheless,  not  as  I  will,  but  as  tliou  wilt."  Such 
words  brought  heaven  near  to  them  and  made  God 
real.  I  think  that  they  had  never  before  dreamed 
of  the  possibility  of  such  intimacy  between  man 
and  God. 

To  us,  too  often,  in  our  prayers,  God  seems  far 
away,  —  some  vast  power  in  the  distant  depths  of 
the  universe.  Our  prayers  are  mere  forms,  empty 
repetitions,  words,  and  nothing  more.  But  some- 
times God  himself  puts  his  spirit  into  our  hearts, 
and  enables  us  to  cry  "  Ahha  !  Father  ! "  At  once 
he  seems  very  near  and  very  real.  His  divine 
arms   are  beneath  us,  and  we  rest  safe  and  sure. 


88  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

Thoiigli  all  else  may  forget  its  and  forsake  us,  he 
will  never  do  so.  No  matter  how  weak  we  are, 
how  sinful  we  are,  he  can  foi-give,  not  seventy  times 
seven,  as  he  tells  us  to  do,  but  innumerable  sevens, 
and  myriads  of  seventies.  This  is  the  one  love 
which  no  sin  can  weary,  and  of  which  Jesus  is  the 
blessed  image  to  us  evermore.  Deep-rooted  in  the 
heart,  this  faith  in  God's  fatherly  tenderness  grows 
ever  more  certain  and  more  strong,  and  this  is 
the  Gospel  against  whicli  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail.  The  Father  is  greater  than  all,  and  no 
one  shall  pluck  his  children  out  of  their  Father's 
hand. 

When  we  can  thus  see  God  as  our  Father,  we 
may  be  sure  that  he  has  put  the  spirit  into  our 
heart  by  which  we  see  it.  To  be  able  really  to 
believe  in  the  fatherly  love  of  the  infinite  Euler  of 
all  worlds  is  itself  so  marvellous  an  act  that  it  can 
hardly  proceed  from  human  will  or  power. 

Yet  how  simple,  childlike,  natural,  is  this  ex- 
perience !  This  is  one  of  the  great  facts  of  the 
universe,  which  is  hidden  from  the  wise  and  the 
prudent  and  revealed  unto  babes. 

I  see  a  wise  and  good  man  sitting  in  his  study. 
He  is  a  conscientious  seeker  after  truth,  but  he 
thinks  he  must  seek  it  by  the  pure  liglit  of  the 
intellect  alone.  He  has  adopted  the  maxim  that 
"dry  light  is  the  best."  He  wishes  to  prove  every 
opinion  he  holds.  He  wishes  to  demonstrate  the 
reality  of  God,  of  the  soul,  of  immortality.     But  he 


UNTRANSLATABLE    WORDS.  89 

finds  that,  one  by  one,  his  old  arguments  give  way. 
He  loses,  gradually,  the  beliefs  of  his  childhood. 
Not  distinguishing  between  belief  and  faith,  theology 
and  religion,  he  supposes  that  lie  must  give  up  all 
the  faith  that  he  cannot  rigidly  authenticate  by  the 
methods  of  science.  So  the  universe  by  degrees  be- 
comes empty  of  all  divine  light  and  love.  Instead 
of  a  God,  above  all,  through  all,  and  in  all,  he  sees 
only  blind  forces,  dead  mechanism.  Instead  of 
Jesus  as  Brother,  Master,  Saviour,  he  finds  in  the 
Gospels  only  a  few  cinders  which  the  fires  of  criti- 
cism have  left  behind.  Instead  of  an  immortal 
soul,  he  discovers  only  combinations  of  carbon  and 
hydrogen.  How  lonely  he  is  !  How  weak  he  is  I 
What  energy  has  man  wherewith  to  do  any  great 
work  when  his  faith  is  Qone  ?  JSTothino-  then  seems 
of  any  iise.  It  is  better  to  die  than  to  live ;  better 
than  both  never  to  have  been  born.  To  this  sad 
state  many  of  the  finest  intellects  of  our  time 
have  come,  by  an  honest  effort  to  infer  spirit  from 
matter,  and  to  evolve  Deity  out  of  the  phenomena 
of  the  universe,  instead  of  finding  Him  in  their 
own  souL 

Meantime  I  see  others  who  are  "followers  of 
God  as  dear  children."  They  trust  the  deep  and 
permanent  voice  in  their  own  soul,  which  speaks  of 
the  infinite  and  eternal,  of  the  cause  above  all  other 
causes,  the  substance  below  all  being.  Tliey  do  not 
seek  to  prove  God,  for  they  know  him.  They  trust 
their  own  healthy  instincts  •,  they  do  not  kill  their 


90  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

convictions  in  order  to  dissect  them.  They  know 
there  is  a  difference  between  right  and  wrong,  be- 
cause they  have  not  confused  themselves  by  any 
subtle  system  of  ethics.  They  believe  in  Christ,  not 
because  of  learned  books  of  evidences,  but  because 
he  appears  to  them  more  heavenly  than  other  human 
beings.  He  is  their  teacher,  because  he  has  taught 
them.  To  those  who  discuss  the  speculative  ques- 
tions about  his  deity,  they  say,  "Whether  it  is  proper 
to  call  him  God,  we  do  not  know;  but  one  thing  we 
know,  that  whereas  we  were  blind,  now  we  see." 
He  is  a  good  shepherd,  and  they  follow  him,  and 
find  themselves  fed  and  strengthened  and  helped 
by  his  guidance.     That  is  enough. 

We  often  overrate  the  power  of  intellect  and  un- 
derrate the  power  of  character.  When  men  speak, 
their  character  goes  into  their  voice,  and  influences 
us  inevitably  and  unconsciously.  The  voice  carries 
the  man  in  its  tones ;  his  courage  or  his  doubt,  his 
faith  or  unbelief,  his  earnestness  or  his  wilfulness, 
his  meanness  or  his  generosity.  To  influence  men 
for  good,  we  must  be  good  ourselves.  Though  we 
speak  with  the  tongue  of  men  and  angels,  if  we 
have  a  hard  heart  within,  we  are  nothing.  This  is 
the  lesson  of  these  "untranslatable  words."  When 
uttered,  the  whole  soul  of  Christ  went  into  them, 
and  so  they  could  not  be  translated;  but  neither 
could  they  be  forgotten  or  lost.  They  went  out  in 
waves  of  influence,  moving  through  all  the  centuries 
with  their  penetrating  power.     They  wrote  them- 


UNTRANSLATABLE    WORDS.  91 

selves,  not  on  papyri,  nor  on  the  stone  tablets  of 
Egypt,  but  on  the  tables  of  the  human  heart.  Of 
such  influences  God  takes  care,  nor  does  the  world 
willingly  let  them  die.  One  age  may  neglect  them, 
but  in  the  next  they  renew  tlieir  life.  They  need 
no  mighty  ark  in  which  to  float  above  the  deluge 
of  a  sinking  world ;  immortal  as  man's  nature,  they 
renew  their  perennial  youth,  and  forever  repeat  to  a 
weary  world  and  broken-hearted  sorrowers,  "  Come 
to  me,  all  ye  who  labor  and  are  heavy-laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest." 


VII. 
THE  DUTY  OF  BEING  UNFASHIONABLE. 


VII. 

THE  DUTY   OF   BEING  UNFASHIONABLE. 


T"  ET  us  consider  the  duty  of  being  unfashionable. 
~*-^  I  do  not  believe  that  it  is  always  a  duty  to 
be  unfashionable.  Fashions  may  be  right,  as  well 
as  wrong  :  good,  as  well  as  bad  ;  and  when  they  are 
right  and  good  it  is  a  duty  to  be  fashion  able.  Or  a 
fashion  may  be  neither  good  nor  bad,  and  then  it  is 
neither  a  duty  to  be  fashionable  nor  to  be  unfash- 
ionable. The  early  Friends,  and  other  religious 
sects,  opposed  fashion  as  such ;  they  protested 
against  all  fashion,  in  dress  and  address,  —  fashions 
of  speech,  fashions  of  costume,  fashions  of  conduct ; 
the  fashion  of  taking  off  your  hat,  of  using  the  plural 
pronoun,  of  having  a  coat  made  to  fit  the  body.  But 
I  see  nothing  objectionable  in  wearing  a  fashionable 
dress  rather  than  an  unfashionable  one,  if  you  wish 
to  do  so,  and  can  afford  it.  As  a  general  thing  it  is 
best  to  conform  to  the  customs  of  society  when  they 
are  innocent.  It  is  not  worth  while  to  make  one's 
self  a  martyr  for  trifles  ;  and  it  sometimes  requires 
more  courage  and  involves  more  suffering  to  wear 
an  odd-looking  dress  than  to  confess  the  greatest 


96  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

heresy  in  religion  or  politics.  There  is  nothing 
which  excites  the  public  indignation  more  than  a 
peculiar  costume.  When  I  first  went  to  Europe,  on 
arriving  in  England  I  found  it  quite  common  for 
men  to  wear  shawls ;  so  I  bought  a  shawl,  and  wore 
it.  But  when  I  reached  Switzerland  it  appeared  to 
be  a  thing  unknown,  and  as  I  walked  through  the 
streets  of  a  Swiss  village  all  the  boys  would  run 
after  me  and  all  the  girls  laugh  at  me;  so  I  had  to 
lay  aside  my  shawl.  If  a  man  in  Boston  should 
wear  a  turban,  it  would  almost  create  a  riot ;  but  if 
he  should  wear  a  hat  in  some  places  in  the  East,  he 
might  be  stoned  by  the  rabble,  for  the  common  peo- 
ple are  always  intolerant  of  any  singularity  in  dress. 
Therefore  I  think  it  wrong  in  parents  to  compel 
young  people  to  wear  dresses  made  in  an  unusual 
way,  for  they  thus  expose  their  children  to  needless 
and  useless  suffering.  The  poor  little  boys  or  girls 
are  made  objects  of  ridicule  to  their  companions, 
and  jjerhaps  no  pain  experienced  in  after  life  is 
sharper  than  what  children  sometimes  endure  in 
this  way.  What  a  dreadful  time  the  poor  little 
Quaker  children  must  have  had  w^ien  their  fathers 
and  mothers  first  sent  them  out  into  the  street  in 
their  strange  costume  !  Even  now  they  suffer  not 
a  little.  I  recollect  hearing  of  a  young  Quaker  girl, 
who  had  it  borne  in  upon  her  mind  that  she  ought 
to  be  married  in  a  strict  Quaker  dress,  though  her 
friends  generally  had  dropped  that  ancient  costume. 
She  had  a  struggle  to  tell  her  lover  of  her  wishes, 


THE  DUTY  OF  BEING   UNFASHIONABLE.     97 

but  was,  I  am  glad  to  say,  relieved  by  finding  that 
he  was  well  satisfied  to  have  her  do  just  as  she 
thought  right  on  that  occasion. 

But  there  are  fashions  in  other  things  than  dress, 
—  fashions  in  literature,  in  philosophy,  in  art,  in 
manners,  in  morals,  in  politics,  in  religion.  And  it 
may  often  be  our  duty  to  swim  against  the  stream, 
to  resist  the  current ;  in  short,  it  may  often  be  our 
duty  to  become  unfashionable. 

There  are  fashions  in  literature.  In  the  days  of 
Locke  and  Pope  the  fashion  was  plain  good  sense. 
The  main  thing  was  to  be  intelligible  to  the  mean- 
est understanding.  Tliose  two  great  writers  were 
not  only  clear,  but  also  strong,  full,  and  rich  in 
thoughts ;  but  those  who  imitated  them  were  as 
shallow  as  they  were  pellucid.  Afterward  there 
was  a  time  when  Thomson's  Seasons  and  Shen- 
stone  were  in  fashion,  and  everything  was  pastoral 
and  sentimental.  Then  came  the  days  of  Byron, 
and  the  fashion  was  to  be  melancholy  and  misera- 
ble ;  to  be  tired  of  life,  and  prematurely  old.  And 
if  you  open  a  magazine  to-day,  you  will  find  other 
fashions.  One  man  writes  in  the  fashion  of  Carlyle; 
another  in  that  of  Emerson ;  one  imitates  Tennyson, 
and  another  Browning.  But  every  original  writer 
is  unfashionable;  he  follows  no  fashion.  He  writes 
in  his  own  way,  not  in  that  of  any  one  else.  In  this 
sense,  therefore,  it  is  a  duty  to  be  unfcishionable 
in  literature.  The  good  writer  has  a  style  of  his 
own ;  he  does  not  flow  with  the  stream ;  he  always 
7 


98  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

seems  to  be  swimming  against  the  current  of  com- 
monplace ;  be  is  original  in  thought  and  expression. 
He  is  so  because  he  is  true.  As  men  are  made 
differently  from  each  other,  every  man  who  really 
thinks,  musttliink  in  his  own  way;  and  if  he  is  true 
to  himself  he  must  speak  in  his  own  way,  use  his 
own  language,  and  not  that  of  others. 

So  also  in  art.  The  true  artist  has  style,  but  not 
manner.  Every  one  who  travels  in  Europe  and  sees 
the  paintings  of  the  masters  soon  comes  to  know  each 
one  of  them  by  his  style.  Style  means  originality, 
personality  put  into  work.  The  great  masters  have 
style ;  their  imitators  have  manner;  that  is,  they  fol- 
low a  fashion,  they  imitate  the  external  form,  but  the 
soul  escapes  them.  It  is  therefore  the  duty  of  artists 
to  be  unfashionable  ;  that  is,  to  be  themselves,  to  be 
genuine,  to  be  sincere,  simple,  and  true. 

As  truthfulness  is  opposed  to  fashion  in  literature 
and  art,  so  it  is  in  religion.  The  real  objection 
to  creeds  is  that  they  tend  to  insincerity.  Creeds 
are  particular  fashions  of  thought,  crystallized  and 
made  authoritative  and  permanent.  The  religious 
fashion  of  thought  in  the  seventeenth  century  in 
England  was  expressed  in  the  Assembly's  Cate- 
chism. Our  present  fashion  of  thinking  is  wholly 
different ;  and  yet  many  thousand  churches  in  the 
United  States  hold  to  that  creed,  and  insist  that 
the  religious  faith  and  feeling  of  the  nineteenth 
century  shall  be  expressed  in  the  language  of  the 
seventeenth. 


THE  DUTY  OF  BEING   UNFASHIONABLE.     99 

Elijah  the  Tishbite  was  an  unfashionable  person 
in  his  time.  The  Israelites,  wishing  to  be  popular 
with  their  neighbors,  had  taken  to  worsliipping 
their  gods.  They  did  not  wish  to  be  singular  or 
puritanical ;  so  when  they  were  among  the  Phoeni- 
cians they  worshipped  Baal  or  Astarte.  Just  so  a 
Unitarian  now  sometimes  goes  to  the  Episcopal 
Church  and  says,  "  0  holy,  blessed,  and  adorable 
Trinity !  "  The  Jews  were  the  Unitarians  of  their 
day,  and  worshipped  only  one  God  when  they  were 
at  home  ;  but  they  Avere  ashamed  of  being  so  un- 
fashionable among  the  Phoenicians  and  Canaanites, 
and  by  degrees  they  came  to  think  it  liberal  to 
w^orship  the  gods  of  all  the  nations  round  about 
them.  I  suppose  they  called  that  "  Liberal  Juda- 
ism "  or  "  Broad  Judaism."  But  Elijah  the  Tishbite 
was  of  another  sort.     He  went  at  once  to  the  Kino- 

o 

of  Israel,  who  had  introduced  this  heathen  relioion, 
this  polytheism,  and  denounced  it  as  false  and 
wrong.  He  defied  the  false  gods  and  their  prophets. 
He  stood  alone  ao-ainst  them  all,  contendim^  for  the 
truth.  Theirs  was  the  popular  and  fashionable 
religion,  his  the  unfashionable  one.  Baal  had  a 
thousand  ministers ;  Jehovah  only  one,  and  the 
queen  was  trying  to  kill  that  one.  That  queen 
was  Jezebel,  and  her  name  has  become  the  type 
for  all  female  .wickedness.  Yet  she  was  only  a 
zealous  worshipper  of  Baal  and  Astarte,  and  I  have 
no  doubt  that  the  priests  of  Baal  considered  her 
as  an  eminently  pious  woman  for  persecuting  the 


100  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

priests  of  Jeliovah.  She  was  like  Philip  of  Spain, 
Madame  de  Maintenon  in  France,  and  Mary  in 
England,  who  with  cruel  conscientiousness  perse- 
cuted the  Protestants.  Elijah  and  his  friends  were 
the  Protestants  of  Syria.  They  were  few,  and  their 
worship  was  unfashionable,  so  they  had  to  hide  in 
caves  to  escape  their  persecutors. 

All  the  great  religious  reforms  have  been  un- 
fashionable at  first.  Christianity  was  unfashionable 
among  the  Jews.  Protestantism  was  unfashion- 
able among  the  Catholics.  Methodism  was  unfash- 
ionable in  the  days  of  Wesley.  Quakerism  w-as 
unfashionable  in  the  time  of  George  Fox.  The 
teachers  of  these  religions  went  in  the  heat  and 
bitterness  of  their  spirit;  they  were  lonely,  they 
were  unpopular,  tliey  were  the  objects  of  hatred, 
contempt,  ridicule.  Of  each  it  might  have  been 
said :  — 

"  He  came,  and  baring  his  heaven-bright  thought, 
He  earned  the  base  world's  ban  ; 
And,  having  vainly  lived  and  taught, 
Gave  place  to  a  meaner  man." 

He  did  not  really  live  in  vain,  but  he  seemed  to 
do  so. 

Eeligion,  in  its  very  nature,  begins  in  unpopu- 
larity. It  is  lonely  at  first,  living  in  the  depths  of 
the  soul.  It  does  not  take  counsel  of  flesh  and 
blood ;  it  does  not  know  how  to  express  itself  so 
as  to  be  understood.  It  begins  in  secret,  in  retire- 
ment  and   reserve.     Afterward   it   may   come  out 


THE  DUTY  OF  BEING   UNFASHIONABLE.    101 

and  become  a  great  motive-power  in  the  world. 
But  all  the  prophets  of  God  are  lonely  at  first,  and 
for  a  time  Elijah  was  lonely.  He  lived  alone 
in  the  hills  of  Gilead  ;  he  hid  in  the  caves  of 
Horeb.  He  said  to  God :  "  Let  me  die  ;  I  am  so 
lonely  I  cannot  bear  it."  Then  God  told  him  there 
were  many  others  he  had  not  heard  of  who  felt  just 
as  he  did  ;  who  had  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal ; 
and  he  was  comforted  in  the  thouglit  of  that  in- 
visible sympatliy,  that  unknown  brotherhood.  He 
was  compassed  about  by  a  great  cloud  of  witnesses, 
though  he  could  not  see  them. 

How  lonely  Luther  was  during  many  years,  — 
alone  with  his  solitary  convictions  !  He  stood  by 
himself  ao-ainst  the  whole  Christian  church,  — 
against  the  empire,  against  the  religion  of  his  day 
and  the  civilization  of  his  time.  He,  with  nothing 
but  truth  on  his  side,  —  he  could  not  see,  he  did 
not  foresee,  what  a  great  multitude  would  follow 
him.  Like  all  the  great  prophets  of  God,  he  stood 
alone  and  said,  "  I  cannot  do  otherwise.  God  help 
me.     Amen ! " 

Every  truth  is  born  at  first  in  some  lonely  brain, 
—  in  the  mind  of  some  solitary  thinker,  who  loves 
truth  better  than  fashion,  better  than  popularity, 
better  than  comfort,  better  than  his  own  life. 
Elijah  the  Tishbite,  Paul  of  Tarsus,  Luther  at 
Worms,  John  Wesley,  George  Fox,  Swedenborg, 
Channing,  Theodore  Parker,  were  all  willing  to  be 
unfashionable,  lonely,  despised,  and  rejected  of  men. 


102  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

"  Therefore  sprang  there,  even  of  one,  and  him  as 
good  as  dead,  so  many  as  the  stars  of  the  sky  in 
multitude,  and  as  the  sand  which  is  by  the  sea- 
shore, innumerable."  The  unfashionable  thinker 
of  to-day  sets  the  fashion  for  the  age  which  is  to 
come.  Let  every  lonely,  conscientious,  God-seeking 
soul  remember  this  and  take  courage. 

The  Pilgrim  Fathers  were  unfashionable  people 
in  their  time.  They  were  Protestants  of  the  Prot- 
estants, regarded  as  ultraists,  outsiders,  and  fanat- 
ics, by  all  the  respectable  people.  Nothing  suited 
them.  They  wished  for  perfect  independence  in 
the  Church  and  State,  perfect  freedom  of  thought 
and  life.  They  could  find  tliis  nowhere  in  Europe, 
so  they  came  to  look  for  it  in  America.  They 
took  their  wives  and  little  ones,  and  came  to  live 
among  the  wolves  and  Indians  rather  than  obey  the 
bishops,  or  submit  to  creeds  they  did  not  believe. 
Half  of  them  died  the  first  winter.  But  they  had 
faith  in  God.  Like  Abraham,  they  went  out,  not 
knowing  wdiither  they  went,  and  sojourning  in  the 
land  of  promise  as  in  a  strange  country.  They 
were  poor,  hungry,  and  cold  ;  they  had  little  for 
the  comfort  of  their  wives  and  children ;  but  they 
were  free.  They  were  able  to  worship  God  as  they 
would,  and  to  teach  their  chiklren  what  they  be- 
lieved the  truth.  So  from  that  little  seed  has  come 
a  great  tree,  whose  brandies  reacli  to  the  river  and 
its  roots  to  the  sea.  From  their  unfashionable 
puritanic   conscience   has    come   this   great    Union 


THE  DUTY  OF  BEING   UNFASHIONABLE.    103 

with  its  republican  institutions  ;  its  free  press,  free 
schools,  free  churches,  free  speech ;  the  war  of 
independence  ;  the  war  for  union  and  freedom.  All 
of  these  lay  hidden  in  that  small  seed,  fidelity  to 
truth,  —  as  the  vast  elm  whose  branches  shade  an 
acre  of  ground,  and  wave  in  the  sunlight  in  grace 
and  beauty  for  a  hundred  years,  once  lay  in  a  little, 
delicate,  winged  seed,  which  the  summer's  air  car- 
ried on  its  lightest  breath.  The  great  American 
Union  "  enthroned  between  its  subject  seas,"  the 
pillar  of  modern  democracy,  lay  rooted  in  that  lit- 
tle unpopular,  unfashionable  colony  which  landed 
on  Plymouth  Eock  two   hundred  and  fifty  years 

ago, 

"  Ready  to  faint,  but  bearing  on 
The  ark  of  freedom,  and  of  God." 

One  of  the  finest  figures  in  the  "  Paradise  Lost " 
is  that  of  Abdiel,  the  one  angel  who  was  not  carried 
away  in  the  great  rebellion  against  God  which  Satan 
originated  and  organized  :  — 

"  Among  innumerable  false,  unmoved, 
Unshaken,  unseduced,  unterrified, 
His  loyalty  he  kept,  his  love,  his  zeal ; 
Nor  number,  nor  example,  with  him  wrought 
To  swerve  from  truth,  nor  change  his  constant  mind 
Though  single.     From  amidst  them  forth  he  passed 
Long  way  through  hostile  scorn,  which  he  sustained, 
Unheeding." 

Abdiel,  this  "dreadless  angel,"  was  a  Puritan, 
who  could  not  be  moved  by  numerical  majorities. 


104  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION 

He  was  of  those  who  say,  "  One  man,  with  truth 
on  his  side,  is  a  majority." 

Of  this  class  of  men  —  the  seed  of  the  Puritans 
—  New  England  has  never  been  destitute.  She 
has  always  had  those  who  were  willing  to  stand  up 
against  majorities  in  behalf  of  justice,  truth,  and 
freedom.  Boston,  our  mother  city,  has  never  been 
without  these  independent,  uncompromising  men. 
After  the  massacre  on  the  5th  of  March,  Josiah 
Quincy,  Jr.,  the  Eevolutionary  patriot,  that  soul  of 
flame,  who  had  been  the  life  of  the  opposition  -to 
England,  was  asked  to  defend  the  British  soldiers, 
and  did  so.  That  was  a  very  unfashionable  and 
unpopular  act,  and  even  his  own  father  remon- 
strated with  him  for  doing  it;  but  he  said,  "It 
is  my  duty  to  defend  those  who  come  to  me  for 
counsel  and  aid." 

His  son,  the  next  Josiah  Quincy,  inherited  his 
father's  spirit.  As  Eepresentative  from  Boston  in 
Congress,  he  opposed  the  slaveholdiug  South  and 
their  allies  at  the  North,  and  mo\'^d  the  impeach- 
ment of  Thomas  Jefferson,  voting  alone  for  his  own 
motion. 

John  Quincy  Adams  did  not  represent  Boston 
in  Congress,  but  he  was  a  Puritan  of  the  Puritans. 
He  had  in  him  a  piece  of  Plymouth  Kock.  After 
occupying  the  Presidential  chair,  he  went  back  to 
Congress,  and  there  stood  for  years  defending  North- 
ern rights  against  Southern  aggression.  It  was  very 
unfashionable  in  those  days  to  oppose  the  slave- 


THE  DUTY  OF  BEING   UNFASHIONABLE.    105 

holders.  On  one  memorable  occasion  John  Quincy 
Adams  stood  alone  three  days,  the  object  of  abuse, 
and  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  the  whole  body  of 
Southern  Eepresentatives. 

"Let  the  single  man  plant  himself  on  his  in- 
stincts/' says  Emerson,  "  and  the  huge  world  will 
come  round  to  him."  The  early  Antislavery  men 
planted  themselves  on  their  instinct  of  justice. 
They  had  everything  else  against  them,  —  both  the 
-great  political  parties,  both  houses  of  Congress,  the 
Presidents  for  many  terms,  the  Supreme  Court,  the 
newspapers,  the  commercial  community,  all  fash- 
ionable society,  and  the  mob.  They  had  nothing 
on  tlieir  side  but  God  and  the  truth ;  but,  in  the 
brief  life  of  one  generation  they  have  seen  all  come 
round  to  them,  —  both  political  parties,  President, 
Congress,  Supreuie  Court.  It  is  difficult  not  to  go 
with  the  multitude  to  do  evil.  It  is  hard  for  a 
young  man  to  stand  firm  against  the  temptations 
which  beset  him,  leading  him  into  wrong,  —  hard  to 
resist  the  allurements  of  pleasure,  and  to  stand  firm 
on  principle.  A  boy  learns  to  smoke,  to  drink,  to 
swear,  not  because  he  likes  any  of  these  habits, 
but  because  it  is  the  fashion,  because  it  is  thought 
manly,  because  his  companions  do  so.  Honor  to 
tlie  boy  brave  enough  to  resist  such  allurements ! 
The  young  man  with  a  modest  salary  dresses  ex- 
pensively, drives  fast  horses,  gambles,  because  it  is 
the  fashion ;  and,  in  order  to  meet  these  expenses, 
robs  his  employer,  and  perhaps  goes  to  prison  or 


106  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

runs  away.  It  is  not  because  he  really  enjoys  tliis 
fast  life,  but  because  his  companions  are  doing 
theses  thinc^s.     It  is  the  fashion. 

But  remember  that  eccentricity  is  not  necessarily 
independence.  An  eccentric  man  wastes  his  strength 
in  opposing  superficial  fashions,  —  matters  of  no 
consequence.  .  Some  reformers  make  a  great  point 
of  arguing  against  fashions  of  dress,  of  food,  and 
the  like,  and  think  to  save  the  world  by  eating  a 
particular  kind  of  bread,  or  by  adopting  some  very 
ugly  costume.  There  are  others  who  attack  the 
most  firmly  rooted  customs  of  society,  —  directing 
their  assaults  against  property,  the  home,  marriage, 
wages,  interest,  which  is  very  much  like  Don  Quix- 
ote's charge  against  the  windmill.  The  great  arms 
of  the  mill,  going  steadily  round  and  round,  threw 
the  poor  knight  one  way  and  his  horse  the  other, 
and  continued  to  revolve,  quite  unconscious  of  the 
assault.  Such  has  been  the  result  of  the  attacks 
by  communists  and  socialists  on  property,  marriage, 
and  religion.  These  institutions  are  not  fashions 
which  pass  away,  but  the  gradual  outcome  of  human 
nature  after  long  centuries  of  development. 

Therefore  remember  that  eccentricity  is  not  al- 
ways independence.  The  eccentric  man  goes  out 
of  his  way  in  the  love  of  singularity.  He  is  un- 
fashionable in  things  of  no  consequence ;  he  is  a 
protestant  about  trifles.  It  seems  to  me  unwise  to 
lay  stress  on  ritual  and  ceremony,  on  crosses  and 
candles,  and  little  boys  in  white  gowns  chanting 


THE  DUTY  OF  BEING   UNFASHIONABLE.    107 

hymns  and  to  think  that  such  matters  as  these 
have  anything  to  do  with  rehgion.  But  it  seems  to 
me  equally  unwise  to  attack  them.  They  are  mat^ 
ters  of  no  consequence  either  way.  If  we  could  find 
out  the  exact  kind  of  dress  which  Jesus  and  his 
apostles  wore,  I  do  not  think  we  should  be  better 
Christians  for  following  that  fashion,  or  for  retus- 
in<^  to  follow  it.  In  unimportant  matters  it  is  best 
to'do  as  other  people  do,  and  be  fashionable.^ 

The  best  illustration  of  the  difference  between 
eccentricity   and    a  true    independence,    is   to   be 
found  in  the  conduct  and  character  of  Jesus  Christ 
himself      Jesus  conformed  in  common  things  to 
common  practice.     There  was  nothing  singular  or 
eccentric  in  his  behavior.      He  came  eating  and 
drinking  like  other  people.     He  dressed  and  con- 
versed according  to  the  fashion  of  his  time.     He 
conformed  to   outward   customs   in  his    behavior. 
But  inwardly  he  stood  apart ;  his  soul  held  fast  by 
the  great  unchanging  realities.      He  held  to  the 
universal  religion  of  the  human  race,  with  which 
fashion  had  nothing  to  do.     Christianity  was  no 
innovation;  no  interruption  in  the  course  of  nature; 
not  supernatural,  except  as  all  divine  things  are 
both  natural  and  supernatural.     It  was  the  rehgion 
of  universal  mankind,  — the  truth  and  good  in  all 
religions  brought  to  the  highest  point.     I  some- 

1  When  a  boy,  I  asked  my  Grandfather  Freeman  what  Free- 
masonry  was.  He  replied:  "I  think  it  a  rather  foolish  thmg, 
though  not  as  foolish  as  Antimasonry." 


108  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

times  read  long  arguments  written  to  prove  that 
Jesus  was  not  original,  because  some  of  the  best 
things  he  said  were  said  also  by  others.  But  Jesus 
did  not  pretend  to  invent  truth ;  he  did  not  make 
anything  true  that  w^as  not  true  before.  He  saw 
truth,  the  same  truth  which  Abraham  saw,  and  which 
many  other  wise  and  good  men  have  seen,  more  or 
less  clearly.  The  originality  of  Jesus  consisted  in 
this,  —  that  he  saw  this  truth  so  clearly  and  so 
deeply  that  he  has  made  others  see  it  too.  He  has 
iilled  the  world  full  of  God's  truth  and  love.  We 
are  told  that  Hillel,  a  Jewish  rabbi  who  lived  just 
before  Christ,  also  taught  the  golden  rule.  Granted ; 
but  why  did  mankind  not  hear  of  it  wdien  Hillel 
taught  it  ?  Jesus  saw  it  clearly  and  uttered  it 
plainly,  and  he  made  it  a  religious  rule  for  man- 
kind. Others,  before  Jesus,  have  taught  the  forgiv- 
ing love  of  God  to  the  sinner ;  but  he  taught  it  so 
that  there  is  not  in  all  Christendom  an  ignorant, 
humble,  and  unhappy  child  but  knows  that  if  he 
cries  to  God  his  prayer  will  be  heard.  Others  have 
taught  the  great  law  of  duty,  the  eternal  distinction 
between  right  and  wrong ;  but  Jesus  has  filled  the 
human  heart  so  full  of  it  that  its  sound  has  gone 
out  to  all  the  earth,  and  its  word  to  the  end  of 
the  world.  Others  have  taught  immortality;  but 
Christian  lands  have  been  saturated  with  such  a 
conviction  of  a  future  life,  that  those  who  believe 
in  Jesus  do  not  die, —  they  look  through  death  into 
eternity,  and  see  the  Son  of  Man  standing  on  the 


THE  DUTY  OF  BEING   UNFASHIONABLE.    109 

right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God.  It  is  true,  in  a 
very  high  sense,  that  Christianity  is  as  old  as  tlie 
creation.  The  ohl  Church  fathers  asserted  that  it 
was  the  original  religion  of  mankind.  Jesus  makes 
a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  by  making  old  things 
young  again;  by  renewing  the  primeval  youth  of 
the  human  mind  and  heart.  The  world  journeys 
away  from  its  East,  and  leaves  behind  the  sunshine 
and  the  dawn, — journeys  away  into  the  mists  of 
doubt  and  the  weakness  of  unbelief.  Jesus  turns 
us  back,  so  that  we  see  again  the  glory  of  sunrise 
and  the  morning  freshness  on  sea  and  land;  and 
we  call  this  a  new  revelation,  when  it  is  only  a 
revival  and  renewal  of  the  universal  faith  of  our 
race. 

The  fashion  of  this  world  passes  away.  Every- 
thing but  the  deep  foundations  of  being  changes 
from  day  to  day.  Eashions  in  speecli,  in  dress,  in 
manners,  in  opinion,  come  and  go.  Creeds  rise  and 
fall ;  churches,  ceremonies,  rituals  alter.  The  thimxs 
which  are  seen  are  temporal ;  only  the  things  not 
seen  are  eternal.  There  are  some  convictions  which 
are  above  fashion,  and  which  shine  aloft  in  the 
heaven  of  human  faith  like  stars.  Sometimes  mists 
may  obscure  them  for  a  time,  but  they  reappear  in 
their  old  places,  unmoved  and  unaltered.  Such  is 
the  faith  of  man  in  God,  duty,  and  immortality. 
These  beliefs  are  untouched  by  any  fashions  of 
thought.  Man,  in  every  age,  in  all  lands,  has  looked 
up,  out  of  the  finite  and  visible  world  in  which 


110  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

he  lives,  to  worship  something  unseen  and  eter- 
nal He  calls  his  God  by  different  names,  —  Zeus, 
Brahma,  Jove,  Allah,  or  Jehovah.  But  under  all 
names  and  forms  he  worships  essentially  the  same 
being,  —  the  highest  and  best  he  knows.  Placed  in 
the  midst  of  this  immense  visible  universe  of  law 
and  force,  he  is  not  satisfied  with  anything  out- 
ward, but  passes  beyond  it  all,  in  thought  and 
faith,  to  some  first  cause,  to  some  supreme  source, 
"  from  whom  and  throuQ-h  whom  and  to  whom  are 

o 

all  things."  We  may  be  sure  that  this  faith  in 
God  is  not  a  transient  fashion,  but  a  permanent 
necessity  of  man's  soul. 


VIII. 

VOLUNTARY    AND    AUTOMATIC 
MORALITY ; 

OR,  HOW  PROGRESS   IS   POSSIBLE. 


VIII. 

VOLUNTARY  AND  AUTOMATIC  MORALITY: 
OR,  HOW  PROGRESS  IS  POSSIBLE. 


"  Unto  every  one  that  hath  shall  he  given,  and  he  shall 
have  abundance ;  hut  from  him  that  hath  not  shall  he 
taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath.'''' 

rriHIS  seems  rather  hard.  It  seems  hard  that  a 
-'-  man  who  has  only  a  little  should  have  that 
little  taken  from  him ;  and  it  does  not  seem  fair 
that  because  another  man  has  already  a  great  deal, 
more  should  be  bestowed  on  him.  If  this  were 
something  arbitrary,  it  would  be  very  unintelligible ; 
but  I  think  we  can  understand  the  meaning  of  it, 
and  see  why  it  is  right  and  good,  if  we  consider  it 
to  be  a  law  of  human  nature  and  human  society. 
The  law  is  a  very  beneficial  one,  for  human  pro- 
gress depends  on  it.  The  working  of  this  law  makes 
the  individual  better,  and  the  world  better.  In  fact, 
there  could  be  no  such  thing  as  human  civilization 
without  it. 

The  law  expressed  in  the   sayiug  is  this :  that 
when  we  use  our  powers  and  faculties  we  gain  more 

8 


114  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

power  and  more  faculty ;  that  when  we  neglect  to 
use  them,  they  decrease,  and  at  last  perish.  We 
cannot  possess  anything  except  by  using  it.  If  we 
do  not  use  our  powers  they  are  either  taken  away 
entirely,  or  else  cease  to  be  of  any  advantage  to  us. 

Such  is  the  case  with  bodily  organs,  but  such  is 
still  more  the  case  with  mental  organs.  Practice 
makes  perfect,  it  is  said.  But  notice  this ;  it  is  not 
undirected  practice,  or  the  random  use  of  any 
power,  but  it  is  the  carefully  arranged  practice 
which  improves  it.  In  otlier  words,  it  is  practice 
directed  toward  an  end. 

If,  for  instance,  one  wishes  to  improve  his  mem- 
ory, he  cannot  do  it  by  endeavoring  to  recollect 
at  random  a  variety  of  facts  or  words.  He  must 
arrange  a  list  of  what  he  is  most  apt  to  forget, 
and  study  this  carefully  till  he  has  mastered  it 
and  fixed  it  firmly  in  his  mind.  Then  he  can  go 
on  to  something  else.  In  order  to  improve  our 
powers,  we  must  work  for  a  definite  purpose,  and 
with  a  carefully  arranged  method. 

Eobert  Houdin,  the  celebrated  French  juggler, 
tells  us  how  he  acquired  one  element  of  his  power, — 
an  extreme  quickness  and  accuracy  of  observation. 
His  father  often  took  him  through  one  of  the 
boulevards  of  Paris,  crowded  with  people,  and  led 
him  slowly  past  a  shop  window  in  which  were  ex- 
hibited a  multitude  of  different  articles,  and  then 
made  him  tell  how  many  he  had  been  able  to  no- 
tice and  recollect.      This  practice  so  strengthened 


AUTOMATIC  MORALITY.  115 

and  quickened  the  perceptive  powers,  that  at  last 
he  became  able  to  remember  every  article  in  a  large 
shop  window  by  only  walking  past  it  a  single  time. 
The  more  he  exercised  the  faculty,  the  more  devel- 
oped it  became.  The  more  he  had  of  this  quick- 
ness of  observation,  the  more  was  given  to  him. 

A  friend  of  mine,  President  Thomas  Hill,  told 
me  that  when  he  was  on  the  School  Committee  at 
Waltham,  he  endeavored  to  learn  how  far  the  per- 
ceptive power  of  the  primary  school  children  might 
be  improved.  For  this  end  he  would  take  a  hand- 
ful of  beans,  throw  a  few  of  them  on  the  table,  and 
instantly  cover  them  with  his  other  hand,  and  then 
ask  the  children  how  many  there  were  under  his 
hand.  He  told  me  that  they  improved  until  they 
could  count  them  accurately  up  to  ten  or  twelve 
during  the  moment  that  they  lay  uncovered  on 
the  table. 

In  the  same  way  acrobats  and  gymnasts,  by  care- 
ful and  systematic  training,  develop  herculean 
strength  of  limb  and  power  of  equipoise.  I  have 
seen  a  man  stand  on  one  foot  on  a  slack  wire,  which 
was  swinging  to  and  fro,  and  balance  four  or  five 
dinner-plates  on  as  many  sticks  held  in  his  left 
hand.  As  one  improves  any  power  by  careful 
training,  he  acquires  more.  He  has  much,  and  so 
more  is  given  him. 

But  if  we  neglect  to  use  and  improve  our  powers, 
they  degenerate,  and  at  last  disappear.  The  fishes 
in  the  Mammoth  Cave  have  lost  their  eyes  by  not 


116  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

using  them,  in  that  Egyptian  darkness.  So  if  men 
do  not  employ  a  power,  they  at  last  become  in- 
capable of  using  it.  Cessation  of  function,  from 
whatever  cause,  is  invariably  followed  by  wasting 
of  the  organ  in  which  the  function  has  its  seat. 
The  gland  which  does  not  secrete,  diminishes  in 
bulk ;  the  nerve  that  does  not  transmit  impressions, 
wastes  away ;  the  muscle  which  does  not  contract, 
withers.  The  arm  of  a  blacksmith  and  the  legs  of 
a  mountaineer  enlarge ;  but  the  arms  of  the  Hindoo 
devotee,  which  are  held  in  the  same  position  for 
years,  not  allowed  to  move,  shrink  and  shrivel  in 
size  and  force. 

The  intellectual  and  moral  organs,  like  the  physi- 
cal, are  liable  to  atrophy  when  not  exercised.  If 
a  person  does  not  take-  pains  to  observe,  and  to 
remember  what  he  observes,  the  power  of  observ- 
ing and  remembering  gradually  decays.  He  who 
does  not  think  seriously  on  any  subject  will  become 
frivolous,  aikl  not  be  able  to  apply  his  mind  at 
all.  Those  unfortunate  young  people  who  are  not 
oblio'ed  to  work  for  a  livino-  and  who  do  not  work 
from  a  sense  of  duty,  are  at  last  unable  to  take  hold 
of  any  serious  enterprise.  They  lose  the  power  of 
work,  and  spend  their  days  in  idleness,  and  have 
none  of  that  divine  joy  which  comes  from  the  sense 
of  accomplishment.  They  can  never  say,  "  I  have 
finished  that  piece  of  work  ! "  The  most  unhappy 
people  I  have  known  were  those  who  had  nothing 
to  do.     It  is  a  fortunate  thing  for  most  of  us  that 


AUTOMATIC  MORALITY.  117 

we  are  oUiged  to  work,  and  so  acquire  the  discip- 
line, the  education,  and  the  content  which  result 
from  doing  with  our  might  what  our  hand  finds 
to  do. 

To  him  who  hath  knowledge,  more  shall  be  given, 
and  he  shall  have  abundance.  Knowledge  in  the 
mind  is  such  a  vital  and  vitalizing  power  that  it 
makes  the  intellect  active  to  see,  to  learn,  to  remem- 
ber. The  first  foreign  language  we  learn  is  difficult ; 
the  second  is  easier ;  the  third  is  acquired  with  still 
greater  facility.  If  we  study  the  history  of  one 
nation,  or  one  epoch,  we  find  ourselves  attracted  to 
another  and  another.  Tlie  person  who  has  studied 
botany  finds  new  plants  wherever  he  goes.  He 
who  travels  with  an  empty,  untaught  mind,  comes 
back  nearly  as  ignorant  as  he  went ;  but  the  geolo- 
gist, the  artist,  the  man  who  has  read  geography 
and  history,  or  who  knows  well  any  industry  or 
manufacture  or  art,  is  able  to  see  something  new 
wherever  he  goes.  Just  as  the  merchant  must 
send  out  some  freight  in  his  vessel  in  order  to  bring 
back  a  cargo,  the  traveller  must  take  some  knowl- 
edge with  him  abroad  if  he  wishes  to  bring  any 
home. 

We  have  heard  of  persons  who  have  stayed  in 
the  house  and  avoided  society  until  it  became 
impossible  for  them  to  leave  their  home  or  their 
room.  We  owe  something  to  society ;  we  can  be  of 
use  to  others  by  our  kindly,  cheerful  companion- 
ship ;  but  these  people  had  buried  their  talent  in 


118  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

the  earth,  until  at  last  it  was  taken  from  them. 
Solitary  confinement,  when  inflicted  as  a  punish- 
ment, is  considered  a  very  severe  one;  but  such 
persons  inflict  it  on  themselves,  —  living  for  years 
alone,  and  at  last  unable  to  go  out,  even  if  they 
wish  to  do  so. 

So  people  who  do  not  give,  lose  at  last  the  power 
of  giving.  I  have  known  rich  men  who  were  abso- 
lutely unable  to  give,  because  they  had  not  kept 
up  the  habit  of  regular  and  continued  generosity. 
The  only  way  to  escape  that  malady  —  for  it  is  a 
real  disease  —  is  to  give  away,  regularly  and  on 
principle,  a  certain  proportion  of  one's  income. 
And  this  law  applies  to  all,  —  to  those  in  moderate 
circumstances  no  less  than  to  the  w^ealthy.  It  was 
the  man  who  had  only  a  single  talent  who  hid  it  in 
the  earth,  not  the  one  who  had  five.  If  you  do  not 
give  now,  when  your  means  are  small,  what  reason 
have  you  to  think  that  you  would  do  better  if  you 
were  wealthy  ?  If  every  poor  man  in  Boston  gave 
according  to  his  means,  all  the  charities  of  the  city 
would  be  amply  supplied.  Let  us  never  forget  the 
epitaph  on  a  tombstone,  which  teaches  the  true  law 
on  this  subject :  "  What  I  spent,  I  had ;  what  I 
kept,  I  lost;  what  I  gave,  I  have  still." 

So,  likewise,  those  who  do  not  care  to  see  the 
truth,  lose  at  last  the  power  of  seeing  it.  I  have 
known  lawyers,  to  whom  justice  and  truth  were 
supreme ;  honorable,  high-minded  men,  who  never 
condescended  to  any  low  cunning,  but  used  argu- 


AUTOMATIC  MORALITY,  119 

ments  which  were  convincing  to  themselves  in 
order  to  convince  others.  The  bar  of  this  city  has 
always  had  such  lawyers,  —  men  whose  wish  and 
effort  it  was  "  to  execute  justice  and  to  maintain 
truth."  Such  men,  as  they  grow  older,  grow  wiser, 
stronger,  greater.  They  love  truth,  and  truth  is 
given  to  them,  and  they  have  abundance. 

But  I  have  known  others,  members  of  this  same 
grand  profession,  whose  only  object  was  to  win 
their  cause,  and  that  in  any  way.  They  said,  not 
what  they  believed  true,  but  what  they  thought 
they  might  make  seem  true  to  others.  Tlieir  object 
was  not  to  convince ;  but  to  deceive,  to  confuse,  to 
bewilder ;  to  mislead,  to  win  their  cause  by  appeals 
to  prejudice,  to  ignorance,  to  passion.  And  so  at 
last  they  confused  their  own  sense,  and  lost  the 
power  of  distinguishing  between  truth  and  false- 
hood, right  and  wrong.  They  had  buried  their  tal- 
ent in  the  earth,  and  it  was  taken  from  them. 

Truth  is  such  a  sacred  thing,  so  holy,  so  venerable, 
that  we  must  not  trifle  with  it.  In  puldic  speech 
and  in  private  conversation  some  persons  talk  for 
effect,  regardless  of  accuracy.  They  say  what  will 
produce  an  impression,  assert  extraordinary  facts, 
aim  at  excitement,  and  at  last  lie  unconsciously  and 
automatically.  They  are  called  liars;  but  it  is  a 
disease,  not  a  wilful  purpose.  They  do  not  know, 
at  the  time,  that  they  are  saying  what  is  not  true. 
Such  is  the  evil  which  results  from  talking  merely 
for  effect,  merely  to  produce  an  impression. 


120  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

Truth-telling  becomes  a  habit,  and  at  last  the  man 
cannot  help  telling  the  truth.  So  untruth-telling 
becomes  also  a  habit,  and  the  man  cannot  help 
lying.  Profanity  becomes  a  habit.  The  child  of 
God,  made  by  him  for  immortality,  and  blessed 
every  day  by  his  goodness,  living  and  moving  and 
having  his  being  in  God,  goes  about  from  morning 
till  night  blaspheming  the  name  of  his  protector 
and  friend,  calling  down  damnation  on  himself,  and 
profaning  everything  sacred  with  oaths  and  curses. 
And  perhaps  all  the  time  he  does  not  know  that  lie 
is  doini?  so.  This  habit  has  become  automatic  and 
unconscious.  He  has  deadened  in  his  soul  all  sense 
of  the  reality  of  spiritual  things,  until  they  have 
become  empty  names,  with  which  he  fills  up  the 
gaps  in  his  speech  while  he  is  trying  to  think  of 
something  to  say. 

We  may  state  the  law  thus :  "  Any  habitual 
course  of  conduct  changes  voluntary  actions  into 
automatic  or  involuntary  actions."  This  can  be 
illustrated  by  the  physical  constitution  of  man. 
Some  of  our  bodily  acts  are  voluntary,  some  in- 
voluntary; some  partly  one  and  partly  the  other. 
The  heart  beats  seventy  or  eighty  times  a  min- 
ute all  our  life  long,  without  any  wdll  of  ours. 
Whether  w^e  are  asleep  or  awake,  the  heart  drives 
the  blood,  by  its  steadily  moving  piston,  through  all 
the  arteries  and  veins,  more  than  a  hundred  thou- 
sand times  every  twenty-four  hours.  The  heart 
beats  thirty-six  million  times  every  year,  without 


AUTOMATIC  MORALITY.  121 

any  will  of  ours  ;  and  if  it  suspends  or  relaxes 
its  action  for  a  few  moments,  we  faint  away  and 
become  unconscious.  If  it  stops  its  action  for 
a  minute,  we  die.  The  lungs,  in  the  same  way, 
perpetually  inhale  and  exhale  breath,  whether  we 
intend  it  or  not ;  and  if  the  lungs  should  suspend 
their  action,  we  should  die.  But  we  can  exercise 
a  little  volition  over  the  action  of  the  lungs ;  we 
can  breathe  voluntarily,  taking  long  breaths.  Thus 
the  action  of  the  lungs  is  partly  automatic  and 
partly  voluntary,  while  the  mechanical  action  of  the 
heart  is  wholly  automatic,  and  the  chemical  action 
of  the  digestive  organs  is  the  same.  But  some  acts, 
voluntary  at  first,  become  by  habit  automatic.  A 
child,  beginning  to  walk,  takes  every  single  step  by 
a  separate  act  of  will ;  beginning  to  read,  he  looks 
at  every  single  letter.  After  a  while,  he  walks  and 
reads  by  a  habit,  which  has  become  involuntary. 
He  does  not  exercise  a  separate  act  of  will  in  tak- 
ing each  step  or  looking  at  each  letter.  He  walks 
and  reads  unconscious  of  the  separate  steps  in  the 
process. 

So,  also,  it  is  with  man's  moral  and  spiritual 
nature.  By  practice  he  forms  habits,  and  habitual 
action  is  automatic  action,  requiring  no  exercise  of 
will  except  at  the  beginning  of  the  series  of  acts. 
The  law  of  association  does  the  rest. 

So  to  him  who  hath  shall  be  given.  As  volun- 
tary acts  are  transformed  into  automatic,  the  will  is 
set  free  to  devote  itself  to  higher  efforts  and  larger 


122  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

attainments.  After  telling  the  truth  awhile  by  an 
effort,  we  tell  the  truth  naturally,  necessarily,  auto- 
matically. After  giving  to  good  objects  for  a  while 
from  principle,  we  give  as  a  matter  of  course. 
Honesty  becomes  automatic;  self-control  becomes 
automatic.  We  rule  over  our  spirit,  repress  ill- 
temper,  keep  down  bad  feelings,  first  by  an  effort, 
afterwards  as  a  matter  of  course.  Temperance  be- 
comes automatic ;  it  costs  a  good  deal  of  effort  and 
self-denial  at  first,  but  at  last  it  takes  care  '  of 
itself. 

Possibly  these  virtues  really  become  incarnate 
in  the  bodily  organization.  Possibly  goodness  is 
made  flesh  and  becomes  consolidate  in  the  fibres 
of  the  brain.  Vices,  beginning  in  the  soul,  seem 
to  become  at  last  bodily  diseases ;  why  may  not 
virtues  follow  the  same  law  ?  One  purpose  of  the 
body  may  be  thus  to  receive  and  retain  the  results 
of  past  effort,  that  spiritual  acts  may  be  anchored 
and  accumulated  by  physical  organization.  Thus 
the  body  may  be  the  best  servant  of  the  soul,  pack- 
ing away  and  watching  like  a  faithful  steward  all 
its  master's  treasures,  and  in  the  future  life  the 
risen  or  spiritual  body  may  retain  them  all. 

If  it  were  not  for  some  such  law  of  accumulation 
as  this,  the  work  of  life  would  have  to  be  begun 
forever  anew.  Formation  of  character  would  be' 
impossible.  We  should  be  incapable  of  progress, 
our  whole  strength  being  always  employed  in  bat- 
tling with  our  first  enemies,  learning  evermore  anew 


AUTOMATIC  MORALITY.  123 

our  earliest  lessons.  But,  by  our  present  consti- 
tution, he  who  has  taken  one  step  can  take  another, 
and  life  may  become  a  perpetual  advance  from  good 
to  better. 

This  is  the  one  and  sufiicient  reward  of  all 
virtue,  the  one  sufficient  punishment  of  all  wrong- 
doing, that  right  actions  and  wrong  actions  gradu- 
ally harden  into  character.  The  reward  of  the  good 
man  is,  that  having  chosen  truth  and  pursued  it, 
it  becomes  at  last  a  part  of  his  own  nature,  a  happy 
companion  of  all  his  life.  The  condemnation  of 
the  bad  man  is,  that  when  liglit  has  come  into  the 
world  he  has  chosen  darkness,  and  so  the  light 
within  him  becomes  darkness.  Do  not  envy  the 
bad  man's  triumphs  and  worldly  successes.  Every 
one  of  them  is  a  rivet  fastening  him  to  evil,  making 
it  more  difficult  for  him  to  return  to  good ;  making 
it  impossible  but  for  the  redeeming  power  of  God, 
which  has  become  incarnate  in  Christ,  in  order  to 
seek  and  save  the  lost. 

The  highest  graces  of  all  —  Faith,  Hope,  and  Love 
—  obey  the  same  law.  By  trusting  in  God  when 
we  see  him  ever  so  faintly,  we  come  at  last  to  real- 
ize, as  by  another  sense,  his  divine  presence  in  all 
things.  By  praying  to  him  wlien  we  can  only  say, 
"  O  God  !  —  if  there  be  a  God  —  save  ray  soul  — 
if  I  have  a  soul,"  we  at  last  learn  to  talk  with  this 
Heavenly  Friend  just  as  we  would  with  an  earthly 
friend.  As,  on  a  summer's  day,  when  we  sit  among 
the  pines,  though  we  do  not  see  the  wind,  nor  know 


124  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

whence  it  cometli  or  whither  it  goeth,  we  yet  hear 
its  silvery  voice  above  our  heads,  and  feel  its  cool 
breath  kissing  our  cheek;  so,  though  we  do  not 
know  how  God  answers  prayer,  we  have  the  sense 
of  strength,  of  content,  of  kindly  purpose,  of  love, 
joy,  and  peace,  making  our  whole  life  useful  to 
others  and  satisfactory  to  ourselves.  Faith  in  God, 
at  first  an  effort,  at  last  becomes  automatic  and 
instinctive. 

Thus,  too,  faith  in  immortality  solidifies  into  an 
instinct.  As  we  live  from  and  for  infinite,  divine, 
eternal  realities,  these  become  a  part  of  our  knowl- 
edge. Socrates  did  not  convince  himself  of  his 
immortality  by  his  arguments ;  but  by  spending 
a  long  life  in  intimate  converse  with  the  highest 
truths  and  noblest  ends,  he  at  last  reached  the  point 
where  he  could  not  help  believing  in  immortality. 
As  the  pure  in  heart  see  God,  so  the  pure  in  heart 
also  see  iumiortality.  Death  fades  away  and  be- 
comes nothing ;  it  is  unthinkable,  impossible.  "  He 
who  believes  in  me,"  said  Jesus,  "cannot  die." 
He  who  enters  into  his  thoughts,  sympathizes  with 
his  purposes,  partakes  of  his  spirit,  knows  that 
death  is  nothing.  Thus  it  is  that  Christ  abolishes 
death.  The  true  resurrection  is  rising  with  Christ 
to  a  higher  life  ;  as  the  Apostle  says,  "  If  ye,  then, 
be  risen  with  Christ,  seek  the  things  that  are 
above." 

The  moral  of  all  this  is  evident.  Every  man, 
every  woman,  every  child   has  some  talent,  some 


AUTOMATIC  MORALITY.  125 

power,  some  opportunity  of  getting  good  and  doing 
good.  Each  day  offers  some  occasion  for  using  this 
talent.  As  we  use  it,  it  gradually  increases,  im- 
proves, becomes  native  to  the  character.  As  we 
neglect  it,  it  dwindles,  withers,  and  disappears.  This 
is  the  stern  but  benign  law  by  which  we  live. 
This  makes  character  real  and  enduring;  this 
makes  progress  possible ;  this  turns  men  into  angels 
and  virtue  into  goodness.     And  thus,  at  last, 

♦'  Love  is  an  unerring  light, 
And  joy  its  own  security." 


IX. 
TRUE   AND   FALSE  MANLINESS. 


IX. 

TRUE   AND   FALSE    MANLINESS. 


MANLINESS  means  perfect  manhood,  as  wo- 
manliness implies  perfect  womanhood.  Man- 
liness is  the  character  of  a  man  as  he  ought  to  be, 
as  he  was  meant  to  be.  It  expresses  the  qualities 
which  go  to  make  a  perfect  man,  —  truth,  courage, 
conscience,  freedom,  energy,  self-possession,  self-con- 
trol. But  it  does  not  exclude  gentleness,  tenderness, 
compassion,  modesty.  A  man  is  not  less  manly, 
but  more  so,  because  he  is  gentle.  In  fact,  our 
word  "  gentleman  "  shows  that  a  typical  man  must 
also  be  a  gentle  man. 

By  manly  qualities  the  world  is  carried  forward. 
The  manly  spirit  shows  itself  in  enterprise,  the  love 
of  meeting  difficulties  and  overcoming  them,  —  the 
resolution  which  will  not  yield,  which  patiently 
perseveres,  and  does  not  admit  the  possibility  of 
defeat.  '  It  enjoys  hard  toil,  rejoices  in  stern  labor, 
is  ready  to  make  sacrifices,  to  suffer  and  bear  disas- 
ter patiently.  It  is  generous,  giving  itself  to  a  good 
cause  not  its  own  ;   it  is  public- spirited,  devoting 

9 


130  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

itself  to  the  general  good  with  no  expectation  of 
reward.  It  is  ready  to  defend  unpopular  truth,  to 
stand  by  those  who  are  wronged,  to  uphold  the 
weak.  Havinsf  resolved,  it  does  not  q;o  back,  but 
holds  on,  through  good  report  and  evil,  sure  that  the 
right  must  win  at  last.  And  so  it  causes  truth  to 
prevail,  and  keeps  up  the  standard  of  a  noble 
purpose  in  the  world. 

But  as  most  good  things  have  their  counterfeits, 
so  there  is  false  manliness  which  imitates  these 
great  qualities,  though  at  heart  it  is  without  them. 
Instead  of  strength  of  will,  it  is  only  wilful ;  in  place 
of  courage,  it  has  audacity.  True  manliness  does 
what  it  believes  right;  false  manliness,  what  it 
chooses  to  do.  Freedom,  to  one,  means  followino- 
his  own  convictions  of  truth ;  to  the  other  it  means 
thinking  as  he  pleases,  and  doing  as  he  likes.  The 
one  is  reverent,  the  other  rude ;  one  is  courteous, 
the  other  overbearing  ;  one  is  brave,  the  other 
foolhardy;  one  is  modest,  the  other  self- asserting. 
False  manliness  is  cynical,  contemptuous,  and  tyran- 
nical to  inferiors.  The  true  has  respect  for  all  men,^ 
is  tender  to  the  sufferer,  is  modest  and  kind.  The 
good  type  uses  its  strength  to  maintain  good  cus- 
toms, to  improve  the  social  condition,  to  defend 
order.  The  other  imagines  it  to  be  manly  to  defy 
law,  to  be  independent  of  the  opinions  of  the  wise, 
to  sneer  at  moral  obligation,  to  consider  itself  supe- 
rior to  the  established  principles  of  mankind. 

A  false  notion  of  manliness  leads  boys  astray. 


TRUE  AND  FALS^E  MANLINESS.  131 

All  boys  wish  to  be  manly ;  but  they  often  try  to 
become  so  by  copying  the  vices  of  men  rather  than 
their  virtues.      They  see   men  drinking,  smoking, 
swearing;   so  these  poor  little   fellows    sedulously 
imitate  such  bad  habits,  thinking  they  are  making 
themselves  more  like  men.     They  mistake  rudeness 
for  strength,  disrespect  to  parents  for  independence. 
They  read  wretched  stories  about  boy  brigands  and 
boy  detectives,  and  fancy  themselves  heroes  when 
they  break  the  laws,  and  become  troublesome  and 
mischievous.    Out  of  such  false  influences  the  crimi- 
nal classes  are  recruited.     Many  a  little  boy  who 
only  wishes  to  be  manly,  becomes  corrupted  and 
debased  by  the  bad  examples  around  him  and  the 
bad  literature  which  he  reads.     The  cure  for  this  is 
to  give  him  good  books,  show  him  truly  noble  ex- 
amples from  life  and  history,  and  make  him  under- 
stand how  infinitely  above  this  mock-manliness  is 
the  true  courage  which  ennobles  human  nature. 

In  a  recent  awful  disaster,  amid  the  blackness 
and  darkness  and  tempest,  the  implacable  sea  and 
the  pitiless  storm,  —  when  men's  hearts  were  fail- 
ing them  from  terror,  and  women  and  children  had 
no^'support  but  faith  in  a  Divine  Providence  and  a 
coming  immortality,  — the  dreadful  scene  was  illu- 
minated by  the  courage  and  manly  devotion  of  those 
who  risked  their  own  lives  to  save  the  lives  of 
others.  Such  heroism  is  like  a  sunbeam  breaking 
through  the  tempest.  It  shows  us  the  real  worth 
there^'is  in  man.     No  matter  how  selfish  mankind 


132  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

may  seem,  whenever  hours  like  these  come,  which 
try  men's  souls,  they  show  that  the  age  of  chivalry 
has  not  gone ;  that  though 

"  The  knights  are  dust,  and  their  good  swords  rust," 

there  are  as  high-hearted  heroes  now  as  ever.  Fire- 
men rush  into  a  flaming  house  to  save  women  and 
children.  Sailors  take  their  lives  in  their  hands  to 
rescue  their  fellow-men  from  a  wreck.  They  save 
them  at  this  great  risk,  not  because  they  are  friends 
or  relatives,  but  because  they  are  fellow-men. 

Courage  is  an  element  of  manliness.  It  is  more 
than  readiness  to  encounter  danger  and  death,  for 
we  are  not  often  called  to  meet  such  perils.  It  is 
every-day  courage  which  is  most  needed,  —  that 
which  shrinks  from  no  duty  because  it  is  difficult ; 
which  makes  one  ready  to  say  what  he  believes, 
when  his  opinions  are  unpopular;  which  does  not 
allow  him  to  postpone  a  duty,  but  makes  him  ready 
to  encounter  it  at  once ;  a  courage  which  is  not 
afraid  of  ridicule  when  one  believes  himself  right ; 
which  is  not  the  slave  of  custom,  the  fool  of  fashion. 
Such  courage  as  this,  in  man  or  woman  or  child, 
is  true  manliness.  It  is  infinitely  becoming  in  all 
persons.  It  does  not  seek  display,  it  is  often  the 
courage  of  silence  no  less  than  speech ;  it  is  modest 
courage,  unpretending  though  resolute.  It  holds 
fast  to  its  convictions  and  principles,  whether  men 
hear  or  whether  they  forbear. 

Truthfulness  is  another  element  of  true  manliness. 


TRUE  AND  FALSE  MANLINESS.  133 

Lies  usually  come  from  cowardice,  because  men  are 
afraid  of  standing  by  their  flag,  because  they  shrink 
from  opposition,  or  because  they  are  conscious  of 
something  wrong  which  they  cannot  defend,  and  so 
conceal.  Secret  faults,  secret  purposes,  habits  of 
conduct  of  which  we  are  ashamed,  lead  to  falseliood, 
and  falsehood  is  cowardice.  And  thus  the  sinner 
is  almost  necessarily  a  coward.  He  shrinks  from 
the  light ;  he  hides  himself  in  darkness.  Therefore 
if  we  wish  to  be  manly,  we  must  not  do  anything 
of  which  we  are  ashamed.  He  who  lives  by  firm 
principles  of  truth  and  right,  who  deceives  no  one, 
injures  no  one,  who  therefore  has  nothing  to  hide, 
he  alone  is  manly.  The  bad  man  may  be  audacious, 
but  he  has  no  true  courage.  His  manliness  is  only 
a  pretence,  an  empty  shell,  a  bold  demeanor,  with 
no  real  firmness  behind  it. 

True  manliness  is  humane.  It  says,  "We  who 
are  strong  ought  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the 
weak."  Its  work  is  to  protect  those  wlio  cannot 
defend  themselves ;  to  stand  between  the  tyrant 
and  the  slave,  the  oppressor  and  his  victim.  It  is 
identical  in  all  times  with  the  spirit  of  chivalry 
which  led  the  good  knights  to  wander  in  search  of 
robbers,  giants,  and  tyrannical,  lords,  those  who  op- 
pressed the  poor  and  robbed  helpless  women  and 
orphans  of  their  rights.  There  are  no  tyrant  bar- 
ons noAV,  but  the  spirit  of  tyranny  and  cruelty  is 
still  to  be  found.  The  good  knight  to-day  is  he 
who  provides  help  for  the  blind,  the  deaf  and  dumb, 


134  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

the  insane ;  who  defends  animals  from  being  cruelly 
treated,  rescues  little  children  from  bad  usage,  and 
seeks  to  give  working  men  and  women  their  rights. 
He  protects  all  these  sufferers  from  that  false  man- 
liness which  is  brutal  and  tyrannical  to  the  weak, 
abusing  its  power  over  women  and  children  and 
domestic  animals.  The  true  knights  to-day  are 
those  who  organize  and  carry  on  the  societies  to 
prevent  cruelty,  or  to  enforce  the  laws  against  those 
who  for  a  little  gain  make  men  drunkards.  The 
ffiants  and  draQ;ons  to-day  are  those  cruelties  and 
brutalities  which  use  their  power  to  ill-treat  those 
who  are  at  their  mercy. 

True  manliness  is  tender  and  loving ;  false  man- 
liness, cold  and  hard,  cynical  and  contemptuous. 
The  bravest  and  most  heroic  souls  are  usually  the 
most  loving.  Garibaldi,  Kossuth,  Mazzini,  the 
heroes  of  our  times ;  Luther,  who  never  feared 
the  face  of  man ;  Gustavus  Adolphus  and  William 
of  Orange,  are  examples  of  this  union  of  courage 
and  tenderness.  Bold  as  lions  in  the  defence  of 
the  right,  such  men  in  their  homes  and  their  private 
life  have  a  womanly  gentleness.  False  manliness 
is  unfeeling,  with  no  kindly  sympathies,  rude  and 
rough  and  overbearing.  True  manliness  is  tem- 
perate; it  is  moderate,  it  exercises  self-control,  it 
is  capable  of  self-denial  and  renunciation.  False 
manliness  is  self-willed  and  self-indiilgent. 

The  danoer  which  besets  those  who  have  stronij 
wills  is  to  be  self-willed.     If  they  confound  this 


TRUE  AND  FALSE  MANLINESS.  135 

self-will  with  manly  force  and  persistency,  with 
self-dependence  and  self-reliance,  they  are  apt  to 
become  overbearing,  self-indulgent,  and  intem- 
perate. Then  they  lose  the  power  of  self-control, 
and  this  results  not  in  strength,  but  weakness.  He 
who  cannot  rule  his  own  spirit,  govern  his  desires, 
restrain  his  appetites,  is  no  longer  master,  but 
slave.  He  is  the  slave  of  circumstances,  of  tempta- 
tion.    He  cannot  do  the  thing  he  would. 

Shakspeare,  with  his  inimitable  knowledge  of 
human  nature,  has  given  us  the  process  by  which 
this  pure  will,  not  subject  to  law-,  passes  finally 
into  mere  appetite.  He  makes  Ulysses  tell  how 
order,  rule,  and  place  make  the  harmony  of  the 
world ;  how  the  very  heavens  observe  degree  and 
priority,  "  proportion  and  ofiice  in  the  line  of 
order."  He  says  that  if  this  respect  for  order, 
degree,  and  law  should  cease  in  society,  mere  force 
would  become  supreme  :  — 

"  Strength  should  be  lord  of  imbecihty, 
And  the  rude  son  should  strike  the  father  dead  : 
Force  should  be  right  ;  or  rather,  right  and  wrong, 
Between  whose  endless  jar  justice  resides, 
Should  lose  their  names,  and  so  should  justice  too. 
Then  everything  includes  itself  in  power, 
Power  into  will,  will  into  appetite  ; 
And  appetite,  a  universal  wolf. 
Must  make  perforce  a  universal  prey, 
And,  last,  eat  up  himself." 

The  English,  a  noble  nation,  have  been  gifted 
with  an  immense  strength  of  will.     By  this  the 


136  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

people  of  that  little  island  have  been  able  to  grow 
into  a  first-class  power,  and  conquer  vast  regions 
of  the  world.  Fortunately  this  nation  has  also  a 
sense  of  justice,  and  thus  its  sway  of  foreign  lands 
and  subject  races  has  been  commonly  beneficent. 
But  the  danger  of  the  English  is  to  worship  power 
in  itself,  and  then  they  relapse  into  Paganism.  We 
see  this  tendency  to  a  Pagan  worship  of  mere  will 
in  many  ways.  We  find  it  cropping  out  in  English 
history.  Let  a  subject  race  rebel,  and  the  English 
become,  like  the  Eomans,  relentless,  merciless. 
They  do  not  inquire  into  the  oppression  which  has 
caused  the  rebellion,  but  the  nation  goes  into  a  sort 
of  blind  rage  for  putting  down  the  people  who  have 
dared  to  resist  the  authority  of  England.  So  it 
w^as  in  our  American  Eevolution,  so  in  India,  in 
Jamaica,  in  Abyssinia,  in  South  Africa.  The  Eng- 
lish have  had  wise  and  just  statesmen,  who,  like 
Chatham,  Gladstone,  John  Bright,  have  erected 
justice  above  power ;  and  these  men  are  the  real 
salvation  of  England.  We  also  see  this  tendency 
to  admire  mere  will  in  English  literature,  —  in  the 
novels  where  the  hero  is  a  man  of  prodigious  force, 
which  he  exerts  in  a  reckless  way ;  in  books  like 
Euskin's,  in  which  his  own  private  opinion  stands 
in  the  place  of  reason  and  argument.  Especially 
we  see  it  in  the  downward  course  of  Carlyle's 
mind.  Carlyle,  in  his  early  writings,  set  forth  a 
religion  of  justice,  and  proclaimed  the  divinity  of 
truth.     He  made  goodness  seem  the  only  reality. 


TRUE  AND  FALSE  MANLINESS.  137 

Then  his  influence  was  a  blessed  one.  But  he 
went  on  insensibly  to  substitute  sincerity  in  the 
place  of  truth,  as  his  ideal.  He  asserted  that  to  be 
sincere  was  to  be  right.  Next,  this  worship  of 
sincerity  became  a  worship  of  self-reliance,  and 
that,  again,  became  a  worship  of  Avill,  and  at  last 
he  gave  us  as  his  ideal  Frederick  the  Great,  —  a 
man  with  no  sense  of  justice,  who  was  a  striking 
example  of  a  self-will  which  defied  man  and 
God.  This  downward  course  of  Carlyle's  thought 
was  marked  by  a  like  deterioration  of  his  charac- 
ter. He  became  moody,  overbeariug,  and  tyran- 
nical ;  wretched  himself,  he  made  those  about  him 
wretched. 

The  course  of  Emerson's  mind  was  in  the  oppo- 
site direction.  He  began  by  laying  too  much  stress, 
perhaps,  on  pure  self-reliance.  But  he  passed  up 
steadily  into  the  region  where  justice,  law,  love, 
purity,  and  truth  are  the  Olympian  powers.  He 
passed  from  the  "  Initial "  to  the  "  Celestial "  love ; 
to  that  which  has 

"  heartily  designed 
The  benefit  of  broad  mankind." 

True  manliness  differs  also  from  the  false  in  its 
attitude  to  woman.  Its  knightly  feeling  makes  it 
wish  to  defend  her  rights,  to  maintain  her  claims, 
to  be  her  protector  and  advocate.  False  manliness 
wishes  to  show  its  superiority  by  treating  women 
as   inferiors.     It   flatters    them,  but   it   does    not 


138  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

respect  them.  It  fears  their  competition  on  equal 
levels,  and  wishes  to  keep  them  confined,  not  with- 
in walls,  as  in  the  Mohammedan  regions,  but  be- 
hind the  more  subtle  barriers  of  opinion,  prejudice, 
and  supposed  feminine  aptitudes.  True  manliness 
holds  out  the  hand  to  woman,  and  says,  "  Do  what- 
ever you  are  able  to  do;  whatever  God  meant 
you  to  do.  ]N"either  you  nor  I  can  tell  what  that 
is  till  all  artificial  barriers  are  removed,  and  you 
have  full  opportunity  to  try."  Manly  strength  re- 
spects womanly  purity,  sympathy,  and  grace  of 
heart.  And  this  is  the  real  chivalry  of  the  present 
hour. 

Finally,  true  manliness  draws  its  strength  from 
religion.  It  looks  up  to  whatever  things  are  good, 
true,  and  excellent.  It  reverences  the  divine  ele- 
ment in  all  earthly  phenomena.  Seeing  an  infinite 
grandeur  manifested  in  the  lowest  and  most  minute 
works  of  the  creative  "power,  it  reverences  God  as 
the  all  in  all.  False  manliness  imagines  that  it 
shows  its  superiority  by  irreverence,  by  turning  sa- 
cred things  into  jest ;  by  looking  with  contempt  on 
the  great  faiths  of  mankind.  But  unless  we  have 
faith  in  something  above  ourselves,  our  strength 
goes  out  of  us.  Doubt  and  unbelief  may  be  some- 
times unavoidable,  may  not  be  in  any  sense  blama- 
ble,  but  they  always  take  away  our  strength.  Our 
power  comes  from  a  boundless  faith  and  hope  ;  from 
a  conviction  that  amid  these  changes  of  time 
there  is  something  unchangeable  and  eternal.     Sur- 


TRUE  AND  FALSE  MANLINESS.  139 

rounded  by  death  and  decay,  we  need  to  rely  on 
the  incorruptible  and  immortal  essences  of  being. 
Eeverence  for  a  divine  presence  in  the  soul  and  in 
nature  is  the  support  of  true  manliness.  Accord- 
ing to  Paul,  Jesus  is  the  example  of  a  perfect  man. 
Paul  knew  what  manliness  was  ;  his  own  life  was 
a  long  battle,  a  knightly  conflict,  full  of  courage, 
endurance,  independence,  freedom,  devotion  to  all 
things  good.  No  opposition  could  daunt  him,  no 
power  turn  him  from  his  chosen  path.  But  when 
he  wrote  from  his  prison  to  the  Ephesians,  instead 
of  boasting  of  his  own  achievements,  he  puts  him- 
self by  the  side  of  his  readers  as  one  who  is  still 
endeavoring  to  grow  up  into  the  perfect  manliness 
of  Christ. 

Jesus  was  the  perfect  man  because  always  draw- 
ing power  from  on  high,  and  devoting  that  power 
to  the  good  of  his  fellow-men.  The  harmony  of  his 
soul  was  so  entire,  that  separate  qualities  are  scarcely 
seen.  We  do  not  often  speak  of  Jesus  as  a  philan- 
thropist, a  reformer,  a  thinker,  a  prophet,  a  saint; 
but  rather  as  the  balanced  fulness  of  all  human 
powers ;  never  hurrying,  never  resting ;  always  about 
his  Father's  business,  friendly  with  the  lowliest,  one 
to  whom  all  men  were  equally  dear.  We  do  not 
think  of  making  any  analysis  of  his  character.  It 
is'  the  unity  and  harmony  of  all  traits  which  im- 
press us.  It  is  this  which  constitutes  his  great 
influence,  —  that  he  was  always  one  with  God 
and  one  with  man. 


140  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

We  therefore  find  Jesus  to  be  both  master  and 
brother,  teacher  and  friend,  because  when  in  com- 
munion with  his  spirit  we  also  grow  up  in  all 
things  into  a  truer  manliness.  It  is  a  great  blessing 
to  have  such  a  friend,  whom  not  having  seen  we 
yet  can  love ;  in  whom,  though  now  we  see  him 
not,  yet  believing,  we  can  rejoice  with  joy  unspeak- 
able and  full  of  glory. 


X. 


THE    RUDDER,   COMPASS,   CHART, 
AND  SAILS  IN  MAN. 


THE  RUDDER,  COMPASS,  CHART,  AND 
SAILS  IN  MAN. 


EVERY  part  of  a  vessel  is  curious  and  admirable. 
Among  the  works  of  men,  this  is  one  of  those 
which  most  nearly  approaches  a  work  of  nature, 
and  seems  almost  alive.  A  ship  is  partly  copied 
from  a  fish,  —  adapted  by  its  form,  like  that  of  a 
fish,  to  cut  throuQ-h  the  water  with  the  smallest 
resistance.  It  is  also  partly  copied  from  a  bird ;  its 
sails,  like  the  wings  of  a  bird,  are  filled  with  air, 
and  give  motion  to  the  body.  In  a  ship  every  part 
must  be  in  symmetrical  relation  to  every  other  part ; 
every  spar,  block,  rope,  cable,  anchor,  capstan,  must 
be  exactly  proportioned  to  each  other;  and  so  a  ship 
becomes  a  work  of  art.  From  these  harmonious 
proportions,  imposed  by  the  stern  law  of  necessity, 
emerges  beauty.  Make  a  thing  perfectly  useful,  ex- 
actly adapted  to  its  object,  neither  too  much  nor 
too  little,  and  it  becomes  a  work  of  art.  Let  the 
object  be  a  high  and  diflicult  one,  and  it  becomes 
high  art  and  beautiful  art.     Perfect  utility  appears 


144  EVERY'DAY  RELIGION. 

identical  with  perfect  beauty.  The  men  who  built 
ships  never  thought  of  beauty:  they  thought  of 
use ;  but  beauty  came  of  itself  with  the  use. 

But,  curious  as  is  every  part  of  a  vessel  to  a  lands- 
man, the  most  curious  is  the  steering  apparatus. 
There  is  a  very  small  helm,  almost  out  of  sight, 
bearinor  no  seemin^  relation  in  size  to  the  vessel 
itself ;  but  a  slight  change  in  its  direction  alters  the 
vessel's  course.  This  appears  almost  unaccountable. 
That  by  means  of  its  helm  a  ship  can  be  made  to 
sail  nearly  against  the  wind,  to  go  about,  to  lie  to, 
to  obey  with  the  docility  of  an  intelligent  creature, 
is  truly  wonderful.  This  enormous  mass,  plunging 
on  through  the  water,  can,  by  a  single  touch  of  the 
hand  on  the  wheel,  be  made  to  go  to  the  right  or  left, 
and  so  can  be  directed  from  Boston  harbor  all  the 
way  to  China.  The  rudder  of  a  vessel  was  a  won- 
derful discovery.  To  be  sure,  all  that  it  does  is  to 
turn  the  ship  either  to  the  right  or  to  the  left ;  but 
that  power  is  enough  to  enable  the  commander  to 
direct  it  as  he  will,  in  spite  of  storms  or  calms,*^f 
ocean  currents,  of  fogs,  sunken  rocks,  iron-bound 
coasts ;  moving  by  night  and  by  day,  and  going 
round  the  world  to  the  port  determined  on  by  the 
merchant  in  his  countinsf-room  in  Boston. 

o 

Man  also  has  in  him  a  rudder,  by  which  to  steer 
at  every  moment.  As  the  ship's  helm  is  the  most 
mysterious  part  of  its  construction,  so  the  rudder  in 
man  is  the  most  inexplicable  part  of  his  organiza- 
tion.    It  is  the  function  of  free  choice.     It  consists 


THE  RUDDER,  ETC.,  IN  MAN.  145 

simply  in  the  power,  at  every  moment,  of  turning  to 
the  right  or  left,  of  choosing  this  or  that,  of  doing 
or  not  doing,  saying  yes  or  no,  resolving  or  declin- 
ing to  resolve.  Man  is  not  free  to  be  anything  he 
chooses,  or  do  anything  he  pleases.  He  is  limited  by 
stern  laws, — laws  of  organization,  laws  of  circum- 
stance. A  man  born  in  Africa  must  be  an  African, 
with  African  character,  with  African  education ;  he 
cannot  be  a  Frenchman  or  a  ISTew  Englander.  It 
was  by  no  choice  of  mine  that  I  was  born  when  I 
was  and  where  I  was.  It  was  by  no  merit  or  fault 
of  mine  that  I  have  such  an  organization  of  mind 
and  body,  and  no  otlier.  Human  freedom  does  not 
give  a  man  the  power  of  changing  his  nature ;  but, 
being  what  he  is,  it  gives  the  power  of  choosing  his 
aim,  and  going  toward  it,  under  the  limitation  of 
these  foreordained  conditions. 

In  steering  a  ship  it  is  not  enough  to  have  a 
rudder;  we  must  have  something  by  which  to  steer; 
we  must  know  the  direction.  On  land,  the  fixed 
objects  around  show  us  which  way  we  are  going ; 
but  at  sea,  where  all  is  in  apparent  motion,  we 
must  have  sometliing  fixed  by  which  to  direct  our 
course.  The  sun  by  day  and  the  stars  by  night 
meet  this  need ;  but  in  cloudy  weather  and  stormy 
days  sun  and  stars  are  hidden.  Hence  extended 
navigation  became  only  possible  when  the  compass 
needle  was  discovered.  Like  other  great  discoveries, 
no  one  knows  precisely  when  or  by  whom  it  came. 
The  need  created  the  invention.  Now,  by  help  of 
10 


146  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

the  little  needle  in  its  banging  box,  always  trem- 
bling toward  the  north  by  its  mysterious  inward 
attraction,  we  can  cross  oceans  without  sight  of  sun 
or  stars,  and  always  know  which  way  we  are  going. 

In  man,  too,  there  is  a  similar  means  of  knowing 
his  direction  at  every  moment.  The  compass  in 
man  we  call  conscience.  It  always  points  toward 
the  right.  The  right  is  the  North  star  of  conscience. 
Conscience  says,  "  You  are  doing  right,"  "  You  are 
doinfT  wrono-."  It  does  not,  indeed,  tell  us  what  is 
right,  or  what  wrong ;  but  it  tells  us  something  is 
riglit,  and  something  wrong.  It  performs  a  double 
ofiice ;  first,  it  gives  us  the  great  ideas  of  right  and 
wrong,  —  duty,  obligation  ;  and  then  it  approves 
when  we  do  what  w^e  believe  to  be  right ;  disap- 
proves when  we  do  what  we  believe  to  be  wrong. 
It  is  sometimes  objected  that  if  there  w^ere  such 
a  moral  sense  in  man  all  men  would  agree  as 
to  what  is  right  and  wrong;  whereas  it  is  certain 
that  men  differ.  This  objection  is  valid  against 
the  idea  that  conscience  is  a  code  of  ethics.  It 
is  not.  It  guides  us  according  to  the  code  we 
have.  But  it  is  the  check  and  restraint  on  the 
selfish  passions,  the  selfish  will,  the  personal  ambi- 
tions. It  points  forever  to  a  great  commanding  law 
above  man's  egotistical  desires,  and  so  lifts  us  above 
ourselves.  It  says,  "Xo  matter  wdiat  you  wish, 
what  you  desire,  there  is  something  which  you  ought 
to  do."  Thus  it  emancipates  man  from  the  domin- 
ion of  mere   selfish  desire.      Conscience  'gives  us 


THE  RUDDER,  ETC.,  IN  MAN.  147 

warniug  if  we  are  going  wrong.  When  tlie  sun  and 
the  stars  are  darkened,  and  the  clouds  return  after 
rain ;  when  w^e  cannot  see  God  clearly ;  when  the 
great  intuitions  of  the  soul  are  clouded  over,  this 
inward  monitor  still  continues  its  faithful,  humble 
task.  It  says  to  us,  "  This  is  right."  It  says,  "  This 
is  wrong."  If  we  attend  to  its  warning  we  shall 
hardly  ever  go  astray.  We  can  sophisticate  it  if 
we  choose  ;  we  can  reason  ourselves  into  the  belief 
that  black  is  white  and  white  black ;  we  can  put 
darkness  for  lio-ht,  and  liL>lit  for  darkness  ;  bitter  for 
sweet,  and  sweet  for  bitter.  But  in  the  depths  of 
the  soul,  when  we  are  quiet,  and  listen  to  the  still 
small  voice,  it  will  warn  us  of  our  danger,  and  lead 
us  back  to  the  truth  and  right.  We  can  refuse  to 
attend  to  it,  just  as  the  mariner  may  neglect  to  look 
at  his  compass  ;  but  the  compass  is  there,  waiting 
to  be  looked  at,  and  conscience  is  there,  waitin(y  to 
be  listened  to. 

In  steering  a  ship,  besides  the  rudder  and  com- 
pass, we  must  also  have  a  chart.  We  must  have  a 
chart  of  the  ocean  and  of  its  shores,  so  as  to  know 
in  wdiat  direction  to  steer,  to  know  the  shoals  and 
currents,  tlfe  soundings  off  the  coasts,  the  hidden 
reefs  and  rocks,  the  harbors  and  their  bearings.  The 
compass  does  not  tell  us  all  this;  this  w^e  learn  from 
the  chart.  The  compass  only  tells  us  which  way 
is  north,  and  which  way  south.  If  we  had  the 
compass  and  rudder,  but  no  chart,  we  would  not 
undertake  a  voyage. 


148  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

Man  also  needs  a  chart  to  tell  him  which  way  to 
steer,  what  he  ought  to  do  and  to  be.  God  has 
given  him  this  chart  in  his  reason,  —  the  light  which 
lightens  every  man  who  cometh  into  the  world. 
When  we  are  quiet,  and  listen  to  its  voice,  it  teaches 
US.  We  are  often  too  busy  to  listen  to  it,  too  much 
immersed  in  daily  cares  and  anxieties  to  stop  and 
hear  it.  So  we  need  other  teachers,  outward  guides 
to  lead  us. 

This  is  why  prophets  and  teachers  are  necessary 
to  man.  His  freedom  and  his  conscience  are  not 
enough.  They  do  not  inform  him  of  his  duties,  his 
dangers,  his  hopes.  They  do  not  show  him  the 
object  of  life,  the  needs  of  the  soul,  the  purposes  of 
God  concerning  it.  The  Bible  is  the  record  of  the 
revelations  made  to  such  teachers.  The  Bible  is 
not  the  rudder ;  the  rudder  is  freedom.  It  is  not 
the  compass  ;  the  compass  is  conscience.  But  it  is 
the  chart,  it  is  the  map ;  it  is  to  be  consulted  every 
day  in  order  to  show  us  what  there  is  around  us, 
and  what  before  us,  in  time  and  in  eternity.  Because 
the  sailor  has  a  rudder  and  a  compass ;  because  he 
has  the  sight  of  the  glorious  sun  and  the  unchang- 
ing stars ;  because  he  has  scientific  instruments  by 
which  he  can  take  observations  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  to  find  his  latitude  and  longitude ;  because 
he  carries  a  chronometer  to  give  him  the  true  time 
at  Greenwich,  can  he  therefore  do  without  his 
charts  ?  No ;  these  are  necessary  as  well  as  the 
others.     Both  are  necessary ;   he  cannot   dispense 


THE  RUDDER,  ETC.,  IN  MAN.  149 

with  either.  So,  because  we  have  in  us  noble  in- 
stincts and  great  powers,  because  we  have  achieved 
great  advances  in  science,  does  it  follow  that  we  can 
dispense  with  the  intuitions  of  past  prophets,  the 
wisdom  of  sages,  and  the  inspired  lives  of  apostles  ? 
No! 

It  is  easy  to  point  out  the  errors  in  the  Bible.  It 
is  not  infallible  ;  no  human  thing  is  infallible,  and 
the  Bible  is  intensely  human.  Therein  is  its  power. 
Your  friend,  noble  and  generous,  the  man  you  love 
the  most,  whose  life  brings  you  comfort,  warning, 
strength,  courage,  on  whom  you  lean  every  day,  to 
whom  you  go  for  advice  and  sympathy,  —  he  is  not 
infallible ;  he  may  make  mistakes.  But  will  you 
give  him  up  on  that  account,  sneer  at  him,  ridicule 
him  ?  Moses  made  mistakes,  in  geology  and  as- 
tronomy,—  the  mistakes  of  his  time;  for  God  did 
not  send  him  to  teach  astronomy  or  geology.  But 
Moses  said  :  "  There  is  one  God,"  when  men  wor- 
shipped a  thousand  gods.  He  said  :  "  Thou  shalt 
not  steal,  thou  shalt  not  even  covet  thy  neighbor's 
goods  ;  thou  shalt  be  hospitable  to  the  stranger ; 
thou  shalt  be  kind  to  thy  cattle."  And  by  these 
commands  he  lifted  man  to  a  higher  plane  of  being. 
It  is  very  easy  for  a  man  living  in  the  nineteenth 
century  to  point  out  the  mistakes  of  Moses  in  mat- 
ters of  science.  Any  school-girl  in  Boston  can  cor- 
rect the  mistakes  of  Plato,  Bacon,  and  Shakspeare. 
But  Shakspeare,  Plato,  and  Bacon  are  still  great 
lights  to  us,  as  they  were  to  their  own  day.     So 


150  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

the  Bible  continues  to  be  our  guide  and  inspira- 
tion in  morals  and  religion,  as  it  Las  been  for  tliree 
thousand  years.  We  can  find  nothing  tenderer  than 
the  Psalms.  In  our  sorrow  and  loss  we  borrow  the 
lan^uaoe  of  David  ;  in  our  loftier  moods  w^e  turn  to 
the  prophets ;  in  our  bereavement  we  come  to  him 
who  said,  "I  will  give  you  rest."  In  our  sins  we 
find  no  one  who  can  bring  to  us  the  sense  of  God's 
pardon  as  it  is  given  through  Jesus  Christ.  Let  the 
mousing  critic  gnaw  at  the  letter  of  the  Bible  ;  the 
honest  and  seeking  soul  will  ever  find  in  it  treasures 
of  comfort  and  of  light. 

The  great  utterances  born  in  the  highest  mo- 
ments of  life,  born  out  of  the  deepest  experiences  of 
heroes,  saints,  and  martyrs,  the  lofty  moral  teach- 
ings which  have  come  from  pure  souls,  —  these 
enter  into  our  common  life,  and  lift  us  up  to  a 
higher  plane  of  conviction.  Why  is  it  that  every 
man's  standard  of  right  is  higher  than  his  conduct, 
higher  than  his  habits  of  thinking,  feeling,  and 
acting  ?  We  all  have  a  standard  of  duty  higher 
than  anything  we  have  yet  attained.  How  did 
we  get  it  ?  It  is  a  divine  gift,  coming  down  to  us 
from  higher  life  and  purer  thoughts  than  our  own. 
These  cold,  pure  waters  of  life  flow  down  from  the ' 
uplands,  from  the  mountains,  and  refresh  the  lower 
valleys  with  their  crystal  drops.  But  we  all  have 
something  in  us  which  answers  to  such  words. 
When  those  high  chords  are  struck,  some  string 
vibrates  in  unison  in  every  bosom.     Even  the  com- 


THE  RUDDER,  ETC.,  IN  MAN.  151 

mon  crowd  in  a  theatre  will  instinctively  applaud 
every  noble,  generous  sentiment  uttered  on  the 
stage,  showing  that  man  never  loses  his  sense  of 
what  is  right  and  good. 

Man's  tendency  is  to  rise.  Aspiration  belongs  to 
human  nature.  Even  Milton's  devils  had  not  lost 
their  aspiration,  their  tendency  upward.  They 
said  to  each  other  in  hell :  — 

*'  By  our  proper  motion  we  ascend 
Up  to  our  native  heights.     Descent  and  fall 
To  us  is  adverse." 

Man  is  never  satisfied  when  he  is  not  making 
progress.  He  tries  to  seem  satisfied,  to  persuade 
himself  that  he  is  satisfied,  but  he  is  not.  We 
all  long  to  be  better  than  we  are,  and  that  is  the 
proof  that  God  means  to  make  us  better.  When 
God  made  us  he  made  us  for  himself,  and  he 
will  not  allow  any  of  us  to  fail  of  accomplishing 
his  purpose. 

One  more  comparison  must  be  made  between 
man  and  the  vessel.  Even  the  rudder  and  compass 
and  charts  are  of  no  use  unless  something  else  is 
added.  What  is  that  something  else  ?  A  motive 
power.  The  vessel  spreads  its  sails  to  the  wind, 
and  the  wind  fills  the  sails.  The  sailor  cannot 
create  the  wind ;  all  he  can  do  is  to  spread  his  sail 
to  it.  He  cannot  tell  beforehand  which  way  the 
wind  will  blow,  but  he  goes  out  of  the  port  hi 
confidence  that  the  wind  will  be  sent  to  him. 


152  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

There  is  also  a  power  from  above  man  which 
moves  man.  We  do  not  move  ourselves.  We  are 
moved  by  the  spirit  of  God.  What  is  prayer  but 
spreading  our  sails  to  catch  the  wind  ?  Man  does 
not  create  the  wind.  He  does  not  know  whence  it 
Cometh  or  whither  it  goeth.  He  simply  raises  his 
sails  and  is  driven  by  it. 

A  religious  man  is  one  who  believes  in  a  power 
above  himself,  which  can  add  motive  to  his  life, 
and  who  therefore  spreads  his  sails  to  catch  that 
divine  breeze.  When  I  am  sad,  I  raise  the  sails  of 
prayer  to  catch  a  breeze  of  comfort ;  when  I  am 
weak,  I  spread  the  sails  of  faith  to  receive  the  v/ind 
which  shall  bear  me  on ;  when  I  am  sinful,  I  lift 
my  sails  to  welcome  the  pardoning  breath  of  God's 
love.  Amid  the  sorrows  and  disappointments  of 
time  I  open  my  heart  to  my  heavenly  friend  and 
am  comforted.  Strange  that  men  should  believe 
in  the  invisible  wind,  and  not  in  the  unseen  breath 
of  God's  love. 

Or,  let  us  change  the  image,  and  suppose  the 
ship  to  be,  not  a  sailing  vessel,  but  a  great  sea- 
going steamer,  with  a  raging,  hery  furnace  in  its 
heart,  which  beats  with  steady  pulsation  day  and 
night,  like  the  heart  of  a  man,  driving  the  great 
piston  up  and  down,  and  moving  the  enormous 
shafts  of  steel,  which  turn  with  steady  force  tlie 
great  wheels.  The  ship  plunges  on  through  the 
breaking  waves,  driven  by  this  inward  fire.  It  is 
now  not  wind  which  moves  it,  but  fire. 


THE  RUDDER,  ETC.,  IN  MAN.  153 

The  steamer  is  an  advance  on  the  sailing  vesseL 
And  so  the  man  in  whose  soul  God  kindles  a  fire 
of  love,  which  burns  on  night  and  day,  and  moves 
him  against  tide  and  storm,  is  no  doubt  an  advance 
on  the  man  who  can  pray  indeed  occasionally  for 
help,  but  has  no  constant  fire  of  love  in  his  heart. 
God  comes  in  the  inward  fire  no  less  than  in  the 
outward  wind.  He  sends  us  motives  from  within 
as  from  above.  We  use  occasional  prayers,  but 
God  teaches  us  to  pray  without  ceasing  by  a  con- 
stant life  of  love  to  him  and  his  creatures.  Then 
w^e  feel  God  near  us  all  the  day.  Then  we  do  not 
hoist  our  sails  and  take  them  in  again,  but  we  are 
driven  forward  by  the  steady,  undying  love  of  God 
in  our  hearts. 

By  this  I  mean  that  if  we  are  inwardly  at  peace 
with  God,  full  of  his  love,  and  steadfastly  doing 
his  will,  it  is  not  necessary  to  pray  merely  as  a 
duty,  or  a  form,  or  a  custom.  We  do  not  pray  to 
God  in  order  to  please  him,  but  to  be  helped  and 
blessed.  Just  as  the  Sabbafh  was  made  for  man, 
and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath,  so  prayer  was  made 
for  man,  and  not  man  for  prayer.  Prayer  is  not  a 
duty,  but  a  privilege,  an  opportunity.  It  is  food 
when  we  are  hungry,  water  when  we  are  thirsty. 
When  we  are  not  hungry  it  is  not  our  duty  to  eat, 
nor  to  drink  when  we  have  no  thirst.  Never  look 
on  prayer  as  a  form  which  you  ought  to  go  through 
with,  never  as  a  ceremony  by  which  God  is  pleased 
and  pacified.     No,  it  is  the  happy  talk  of  a  child 


154  *  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

with  its  motlier ;  the  cry  for  comfort,  and  love,  and 
help,  which,  if  it  be  only  sincere,  God  will  always  an- 
swer.    But  does  God  answer  the  prayer  of  form  ? 

By  this  illustration  of  a  ship  we  see  in  what 
human  power  consists,  and  what  are  its  limitations. 
The  sailor  has  no  power  over  the  vessel  to  make  it 
different  from  what  it  is ;  he  has  no  power  over  the 
currents  or  the  winds  to  make  them  different  from 
what  they  are ;  he  has  no  power  over  the  geography 
of  land  or  sea  to  make  it  different.  But  he  can 
study  his  chart  to  find  out  how  to  sail,  he  can  steer 
his  vessel  by  his  compass  according  to  its  course, 
he  can  set  his  sails  to  the  wind ;  and  if  he  does  all 
this  aright,  he  is  able,  by  obeying  law,  to  become 
free.  He  is  free  to  accomplish  his  work  only  as 
he  continues  to  obey  divine  law. 

ISTor  has  man  any  power  over  his  organization 
of  mind  or  of  body  to  make  them  different  from 
what  they  are;  no  power  over  the  circumstances 
in  which  he  is  placed.  But  he  can  obey  the  laws 
of  God,  or  disobey  them ;  he  can  seek  for  truth,  or 
neglect  it.  Happy  is  he  who  is  steering  somewhere, 
who  is  not  drifting  purposeless  through  life.  Tlie 
most  unhappy  of  men  are  those  who  have  nothing 
to  do. 

Happier  he  whose  purpose  is  a  good  and  generous 
one ;  who  lives  in  order  to  find  more  truth,  do  more 
good,  accomplish  something  of  real  value  in  the 
world.  Happiest  of  all  he  who  is  doing  this  with  th-e 
consciousness  that  he  is  a  fellow-worker  with  God, 


THE  RUDDER,  ETC.,  IN  MAN.  155 

who  is  working  with  the  love  of  God  and  Christ 
in  his  heart,  and  so  making  this  earthly  life  at  one 
with  the  life  in  heaven.  He  only  can  pray  the 
Lord's  prayer  with  full  conviction,  and  say,  "  Thy 
kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done  on  earth,  as  it  is 
done  in  heaven'"  He  knows  what  is  the  object  of 
liis  voyage ;  he  has  the  chart  of  his  Master's  life  by 
which  to  steer,  the  unvarying  compass  of  conscience 
as  his  daily  guide,  and  the  spirit  of  God,  the  divine 
breath  of  love,  to  urge  him  forward. 

Over  ten  thousand  miles  of  pathless  ocean 

The  ship  moves  on  its  steadfast  course  each  day, 

Through  tropic  calms,  or  seas  in  wild  commotion, 
And  anchors  safe  within  the  expected  bay. 

O  ship  of  God  !  with  voyage  more  sublime — 
0  human  soid  !  in  thine  appointed  hour, 

Launched  from  eternity  on  seas  of  time. 

In  calms  more  fatal,  storms  of  madder  power  — 

Sail  on  !  and  trust  the  compass  in  thy  breast, 
Trust  the  diviner  heavens  that  round  thee  bend, 

And,  steering  for  the  port  of  perfect  rest, 
Trust,  most  of  all,  in  thine  Eternal  Friend. 


XI. 
MORAL    MISALLIANCES. 


XI. 

MORAL   MISALLIANCES. 


"  The  tJiistle  in  Lebanon  sent  to  the  cedar  in  Lebanon, 
saying,  Give  thy  daughter  to  my  son  for  a  wife^ 

THIS  is  one  of  the  earliest  instances  of  what 
we  call  a  fable.  Fables,  like  proverbs,  are 
the  exponents  of  a  popular  wisdom.  The  good 
sense  of  a  nation  and  age  sums  itself  up  in  such 
a  little  parable  as  this.  It  is  meant  to  show  the 
disadvantages  of  a  misalliance.  It  has  the  same 
moral  as  the  fable  of  JEsop  concerning  the  collier 
who  asked  the  fuller  to  come  and  live  w4th  him. 
Inconsistent  unions  and  their  evils  are  objected 
to  here. 

In  nature,  however,  there  cannot  be  any  such 
inconsistent  unions.  The  thistle  and  cedar  never 
marry.  Tribes,  orders,  genera,  species,  are  preserved 
from  intermingling  by  some  fixed  law.  We  do  not 
exactly  know  what  a  species  is,  but  we  know  at 
least  this,  that  there  are  boundaries  in  the  animal 
and  vegetable  kingdoms  which  cannot  now  be  over- 


160  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

passed.  This  law  keeps  races  distinct,  and  prevents 
intermixture.  There  are  no  hybrid  races-  If  there 
were,  the  whole  organized  world  would  be  a  scene 
of  confusion.  The  peach  tree  and  almond  breed 
together,  but  are  held  therefore  to  be  of  the  same 
species,  the  peach  being  only  a  variety  of  the  al- 
mond. "  If  the  peach  were,  indeed,  a  distinct  species, 
wdiere  was  it  concealed,"  says  Pritchard,  "  from  the 
creation  until  the  reign  of  Claudius  Csesar  ? " 

The  old  botanists  arranged  plants  according  to 
an  artificial  order,  founded  on  one  or  two  features 
of  their  organization,  making  a  very  cumbrous 
system,  hard  to  understand  and  difficult  to  remem- 
ber. The  modern  botanists  have  a  natural  method 
of  arrangement,  by  which  plants  come  together  that 
are  really  alike ;  not  those  which  resemble  each 
other  only  in  such  a  number  of  stamens  and  pistils. 
Society  in  America  has  the  advantage  over  society 
in  Europe  that  it  follows  the  natural  order  of 
arrangement.  The  system  of  elective  affinities  pre- 
vails so  powerfully  that  no  caste  system  can  suc- 
ceed here.  It  may  be  attempted  in  such  great  cities 
as  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  but  the  whole  stress 
of  things  is  against  it. 

Nature  forbids  misalliances  by  establishing  the 
boundary  of  specific  differences  between  different 
tribes  ot  animals  and  plants.  Thus  w^e  have  vari- 
ety, but  not  confusion,  in  the  world;  thousands  of 
animals,  thousands  of  plants,  keeping  themselves 
distinct,  capable  of  being  improved,  but  remaining 


MORAL  MISALLIANCES.  161 

essentially  the  same,  —  the  violet  always  a  violet, 
the  bee  just  such  an  insect  now,  with  the  same 
habits  and  instincts,  as  when  Samson  propounded 
his  riddle  to  the  Philistines.  If  the  vegetable  and 
animal  kingdoms  had  been  constituted  differently, 
the  result  would  have  been  worse.  We  should 
have  had  confusion  instead  of  harmony.  We  must 
must  have  varieties  first,  tlien  we  can  have  union. 
"All  Nature's  difference  makes  all  Nature's  peace." 

Social  man  has  attempted  to  imitate  these  ar- 
rangements of  nature  by  means  of  a  system  of  caste. 
This  has  been  carried  to  the  greatest  extreme  in 
India.  Gangooly  tells  us  tliere  are  thirty-four 
castes  in  India,  and  no  man  can  get  out  of  his 
caste  by  any  effort.  A  weaver  can  no  more  change 
into  a  barber  or  shoemaker  than  a  dog  can  change 
into  an  elephant,  or  an  apple  tree  into  a  maple. 

The  same  distinction  of  castes  appears  in  western 
society.  There  are  high  and  low  castes,  Brahmins 
and  Sudras,  in  Europe.  These  distinctions  are 
more  marked  and  regarded  with  more  favor  in 
England  than  elsewhere.  Tennyson's  beautiful 
poem  of  "  The  Lord  of  Burleigh  "  is  founded  on  the 
fact  of  a  misalliance  in  one  of  the  great  English 
houses,  and  the  moral  of  the  poem  seems  to  be  the 
danger  and  impropriety  of  such  marriages.  Their 
penalty,  according  to  the  poet,  is  death.  It  is  a 
capital  offence  in  England,  according  to  Tennyson, 
to  marry  above  your  rank. 

11 


162  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

"  For  a  trouble  weighed  upon  her, 

And  perplexed  her  night  and  morn 
With  the  burden  of  an  honor 
Unto  which  she  was  not  born." 

la  marriage,  however,  there  is  but  one  real  mis- 
alliance. Two  people  can  be  happy  and  good  in 
marriage  who  differ  in  a  thousand  waja :  w^ho  be- 
long to  different  races,  nations,  civilizations ;  who 
belong  to  different  classes,  circles,  castes;  who 
differ  in  taste,  talent,  culture.  They  can  be  happy 
notwithstanding  these  differences,  and  often  because 
of  them.  The  differences  attract  and  interest  each 
the  other,  as  the  positive  and  negative  poles  of  the 
magnet  attract  each  other.     So  the  poet  says :  — 

"  Are  not  we  formed,  as  notes  of  music  are, 
For  one  another,  though  dissimilar  1 
Such  difference,  without  discord,  as  can  make 
The  sweetest  sounds  ? " 

But  the  real  misalliance  in  marriage  is  when  the 
aims  are  different,  when  the  fundamental,  practical 
convictions  are  different;  when  the  husband  and 
wife  differ  radically  as  to  what  they  wish  to  do  and 
be.  If  one  wishes  to  make  a  show,  and  the  other 
wishes  to  do  something  real ;  if  one  aims  at  appear- 
ance, and  the  other  at  reality ;  if  one  cares  only  for 
pleasure,  and  the  other  for  work ;  if  the  one  wishes 
to  lead  a  religious  life,  and  the  other  a  worldly  life,  — 
then,  to  be  sure,  they  may  w^alk  together  side  by 
side  through  the  world,  but  it  is  no  real  marriage 
of  heart  or  life,  no  real  coinnmnion   of  spirit,  no 


MORAL  MISALLIANCES.  163 

companionship  of  soul.  They  are  not  helpmeets  in 
any  real  sense.  It  is  the  marria,ge  of  the  cedar  and 
thistle.  And  the  only  cure  for  this  evil  is  such  a 
real  love  as  shall  bring  their  aims  together,  as  shall 
enable  one  to  enter  into  the  convictions  and  objects 
of  the  other,  till  they  grow  at  last  into  one  spirit 
and  purpose. 

But  there  are  other  misalliances  as  inconsistent 
as  the  marriage  of  the  cedar  and  thistle.  There  are 
moral  misalliances  wliich  we  may  consider. 

One  of  these  is  the  compromise  between  right  and 
wrong;  the  attempt  to  marry  justice  and  injustice, 
humanity  and  cruelty,  truths  and  lies.  We  have 
had  a  great  deal  of  it  in  this  country,  and  have  suf- 
fered in  consequence.  Now  a  compromise  itself  is 
not  wrong,  when  no  principle  is  involved.  It  is,  in 
fact,  the  element  of  all  practice.  We  could  not  do 
anything  without  compromises.  In  common  life 
we  always  have  to  split  the  difference,  to  give  up 
somethino;  we  want  in  order  to  2'et  somethins^  else. 
Two  persons  could  not  live  together  a  day  without 
mutual  compromises.  So  in  politics,  compromises 
are  necessary.  If  you  want  to  carry  an  election, 
you  must  unite  a  multitude  holding  a  great  variety 
of  opinions,  and  each  must  give  up  something  he 
would  like  to  have ;  each  must  be  willing  to  wait, 
and  postpone  his  wish,  and  realize  only  a  part  of  it 
now,  hoping  to  have  more  hereafter.  The  most  im- 
practicable radical,  who  has  denounced  compromises 
all  his  life,  the  moment  he  begins  to  act  begins  to 


164  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

make  compromises ;  and  it  is  right  and  proper  to 
do  so.  Tliere  is  nothing  wrong  in  it  when  he  only- 
gives  up  his  own  interests.  The  evil  is  in  giving 
up  principle,  giving  up  justice,  giving  up  honor 
and  truth.  That  we  did  formerly,  in  the  old  com- 
promises between  freedom  and  slavery  ;  for  in  those 
we  did  not  surrender  our,  own  interests  merely,  but 
the  rights  of  others. 

Everything  which  men  seek  after  in  this  world 
has  its  price  marked  upon  it.  If  you  wish  it,  pay 
the  just  price  for  it,  but  do  not  e.xpect  to  acquire 
it  without.  Many  of  the  failures,  defalcations,  and 
disasters  of  the  business  world  to-day,  which  dis- 
courage enterprise  and  leave  labor  unemployed, 
come  from  the  habits  of  speculation  which  always 
attend  and  follow  a  great  war.  A  few  years  since 
half  tlie  world  was  trying  to  become  rich,  not  by  in- 
dustry and  economy  in  one's  own  regular  business, 
but  by  speculation.  But  the  man  who  speculates 
is  a  gambler,  and  a  gambler  is  one  who  wishes  to 
make  money  without  paying  the  price ;  to  accumu- 
late by  luck,  not  by  industry.  To  marry  commerce 
to  speculation  is  a  misalliance  which  leads  to  no 
good.  It  has  plunged  the  nation  into  untold  suffer- 
ing and  disaster. 

Another  misalliance  is  that  of  inconsistent  expec- 
tations. In  the  outward  world  we  do  not  hope  to 
gather  grapes  from  thorns  or  figs  from  thistles,  but 
in  social  life  we  perpetually  make  this  mistake. 
In   selecting   the  agent  of  a  corporation,  a  town 


MORAL  MISALLIANCES.  165 

treasurer,  tlie  cashier  of  a  bank,  or  in  filling  other 
offices  requiring  ability  and  involving  responsibil- 
ity, we  often  select  a  man  because  he  is  smart,  not 
because  he  is  honest.  After  a  while,  if  he  yields  to 
temptation  and  runs  away  with  the  funds,  we  are 
much  surprised.  We  had  been  hoping  evidently  to 
gather  grapes  from  thorns.  A  Massachusetts  dis- 
trict sends  a  man  to  Congress  whom  all  men  know 
to  have  very  little  pretence  to  high  principle  ;  one, 
perhaps,  who  ridicules  conscience  as  though  it  were 
cant.  He  is  sent  because  he  can  say  sharp  things 
against  the  opposite  party.  Then  the  voters  are 
amazed  when  for  some  personal  reason  he  votes 
against  their  interests.  They  wanted  a  thistle,  but 
they  expected  it  to  be  a  thistle  for  their  enemies 
and  a  fig-tree  for  themselves. 

There  are  few  persons  who  like  to  be  bad ;  who 
deliberately  propose  to  themselves  a  life  of  dishon- 
esty, meanness,  falsehood,  sellishness,  and  sin.  No, 
most  men  mean  to  be  generous,  noble,  and  true,  but 
they  are  not  ready  to  pay  the  price.  They  wish  for 
the  satisfactions  which  come  from  wrong-doing  and 
those  of  right-doing  at  the  same  time,  or  else  to  get 
enough  out  of  selfishness  to-day  to  be  able  to  be 
generous  to-morrow.  They  will  be  mean  now  and 
noble  by  and  by.  They  will  be  idle,  careless,  self- 
indulgent  now,  and  become  industrious  and  tem- 
perate hereafter.  But  no  such  alliance  is  possible. 
You  cannot  go  in  opposite  directions.  Each  step  in 
wrong  takes  you  so  much  farther  from  right,  makes 


166  EVERY'DAY  RELIGION. 

it  just  so  much  more  difficult  to  return.  You  are 
forming  habits  which  become  stronger  every  day 
and  every  hour.  If  you  wish  to  be  wise,  pure,  gen- 
erous, when  you  are  old,  you  must  begin  to  be  so 
when  you  are  young. 

Men  who  enter  public  life  should  understand  that 
they  will  often  be  obliged  to  choose  between  their 
interest  and  their  duty,  between  the  public  service 
and  their  private  advancement.  The  union  of  the 
two  is  a  misalliance ;  the  attempt  to  unite  them 
will  be  a  failure.  If  they  will  devote  themselves  to 
the  public  good,  leaving  their  own  fame,  fortune, 
success,  to  take  care  of  itself,  if  they  only  seek  to 
do  what  is  right  and  wise,  then  they  will  have  an 
easy  and  a  straightforward  path.  Their  w^ork  will 
simplify  itself  wonderfully.  But  if  they  are  keep- 
ing an  eye  also  to  their  own  position  and  fortune, 
and  are  seeking  to  advance  these,  they  will  become 
like  so  many  of  our  public  men,  narrowing  their 
minds  to  little  local  questions  of  party  success; 
voting  for  anything  they  think  is  popular,  wliether 
it  is  right  or  wrong ;  seeking  to  win  the  suffrage  of 
the  ignorant  by  pandering  to  their  prejudices ;  ad- 
vocating inflation  to-day  and  contraction  to-morrow, 
as  one  or  the  other  seems  likely  to  prevail ;  putting 
grand  principles  into  their  platform,  and  bitterly  de- 
nouncing those  who  honestly  try  to  carry  them  out. 
These  are  thy  gods,  O  Israel !  mere  weathercocks, 
turned  about  by  the  last  breath  of  the  crowd  1 

There  are  other  alliances,  however,  which   are 


MORAL  MISALLIANCES.  167 

thought  to  be  misalliances,  and  are  not  so ;  princi- 
ples which  are  supposed  to  be  at  war,  but  which 
really  make  the  strongest  union. 

Eeason  and  religion  form  a  noble  alliance  with 
each  other.  Eeligion  is  trust  in  God,  obedience  to 
God  springing  out  of  love  for  God.  Eeason  is  the 
exercise  of  tlie  noblest  power  he  has  given  us  in  the 
search  for  his  truth.  When  these  are  united,  what 
a  grand  union  !  The  marriage  of  truth  and  love 
is  the  symbol  of  the  highest  alliance  of  all,  from 
which  are  born  the  fairest  blessings  of  earth.  The 
children  of  this  marriage  are  knowledge,  beauty, 
goodness,  use.  Eeligion  divorced  from  reason  be- 
comes superstition.  Eeason  divorced  from  religion 
gives  us  only  doctrines  of  despair.  Together  they 
create  a  new  heaven  and  earth  of  peace,  love,  and 
progress. 

In  these  days  we  hear  much  of  the  war  between 
science  and  religion.  There  can  be  no  war  between 
true  science  aud  true  religion.  Science  is  knowl- 
edge ;  religion,  as  defined  by  Jesus,  is  love.  Knowl- 
edge and  love  cannot  be  at  war  with  each  other, 
for  both  are  powers  planted  in  the  soul  by  the 
Almighty. 

The  division  of  labor,  made  necessary  by  the 
abundance  of  work  to  be  done  in  modern  life,  has 
placed  men  of  science  in  one  department  and  men 
of  religion  m  another.     Scientific  men  have  little 

CD 

time  to  devote  to  religion ;  religious  men  little  time 
to  study  science.     But   this  is  unfortunate,  since 


168  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

it  suggests  that  these  two  departments  of  life  are 
hostile.  When  we  find  great  scientists,  like  Newton, 
Peirce,  Agassiz,  reverencing  divine  truth,  and  re- 
ligious men,  like  Kingsley,  Jacobi,  and  Schleier- 
macher  studying  science,  we  discover  how  much 
higher  this  union  can  carry  one  than  either  pursuit 
by  itself. 

I  once  heard  a  speaker  announce  as  her  opinion 
that  whereas  hitherto  religion  had  been  thought  to 
be  the  love  of  God,  henceforth  religion  would  be  the 
love  of  man.  In  this  one-sided  statement  it  was 
assumed  that  the  two  were  foreign  and  opposed, 
instead  of  being  mutually  helpful  and  necessary 
to  each  other.  This  speaker  was  as  narrow  in  her 
theory  as  the  theologians  who  make  the  love  of  God 
without  the  love  of  man  the  only  duty.  The  two 
loves  are  not  to  be  divided.  You  can  possess  no 
divine  love  without  human  love,  no  human  love 
apart  from  divine.  Ee formers  should  understand 
that  no  stable  reform  is  accomplished  by  going  from 
one  extreme  to  the  other.  The  pendulum  will 
always  swing  back  again  to  the  other  side.  The 
son  of  a  stiff'  conservative  will  probably  be  a  radical 
reformer,  and  the  daughter  of  this  radical  reformer 
will  very  likely  join  the  Eoman  Catholic  Church. 
That  is  apt  to  be  the  result  of  ultraism. 

One  moral  misalliance  is  the  attempt  in  religion 
to  marry  the  letter  which  killeth  and  the  spirit 
which  giveth  life.  Christianity  is  a  spiritual  re- 
ligion.    Its  worship  is  universal;  not  at  Gerizim, 


MORAL  MISALLIANCES.  169 

nor  Jerusalem,  but  everywhere,  so  that  it  be  in 
spirit  and  truth.  Neither  Jesus  nor  his  apostles 
instituted  any  fixed  forms  or  any  fixed  creed.  They 
left  men's  minds  free  to  think  out,  each  for  himself, 
his  opinions ;  and  they  left  the  Church  free  to  find 
such  forms  as  should  suit  it,  and  be  useful.  But 
even  in  Paul's  time  many  Christians  regretted  los- 
ing the  magnificent  Jewish  worship,  and  longed  for 
some  great  and  solemn  ceremonies.  So,  by  degrees, 
came  in  the  pomps  of  Catholicism.  And  even 
in  the  Protestant  Cliurch  there  is  a  constant  ten- 
dency to  make  forms  of  worship  essential,  —  ends 
instead  of  means.  Baptism,  the  Lord's  Supper,  the 
quiet  of  the  Lord's  Day,  the  worship  of  the  church, 
—  these  are  all  good  and  useful  when  they  bring 
us  near  to  God  and  inspire  us  with  love  for  him. 
When  we  baptize  little  children  it  is  a  good  thing, 
if  we  do  it  as  a  sign  of  the  tenderness  of  God  to 
these  little  ones,  and  to  suggest  that  we  must  be 
innocent  as  they  are  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
But  if  we  think  it  is  somehow  necessary  for  their 
salvation,  or  that  they  are  safer  for  being  baptized, 
then  we  marry  God's  sublime  truth  to  a  low  super- 
stition. It  is  a  good  thing  to  come  together  in 
memory  of  Christ,  and  to  take  bread  and  wine  to- 
gether, if  we  do  it  to  remind  ourselves  that  the 
highest  communion  is  that  of  faith  and  love.  If 
we  sit  together  in  heavenly  places,  so  that  earthly 
distinctions  may  disappear,  and  we  become  an  army  ^ 
of  the  living  God,  communing  with  all  the  good  in  all 


170  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

lands  and  times,  —  that  elevates  us  and  purifies  us. 
But  if  Ave  suppose  that  there  is  any  superior  sacred- 
ness  in  the  bread  and  wine  in  themselves,  or  any 
virtue  in  the  mere  act  of  partaking  them,  then  we 
marry  the  love  of  our  Master  to  an  outworn  pagan- 
ism. Let  us  go  forward,  and  not  backward ;  forward 
into  deeper  life,  into  a  nobler  religion,  into  larger 
freedom,  into  manlier  piety,  forgetting  the  things 
behind  and  reaching  out  to  the  things  before.  In 
pagan  lands  people  wear  amulets  on  their  breast, 
and  trust  to  them  for  safety.  Let  us  beware  lest  we 
make  such  amulets  out  of  any  Christian  sacraments 
or  out  of  any  Christian  beliefs. 

Another  moral  misalliance  is  of  the  love  of  God 
with  the  fear  of  God.  All  Christians  admit  and 
believe  that  true  religion  consists  in  the  love  of 
God.  But  many  also  think  that  men  ought  to  be 
brought  to  God  by  terror.  So  they  represent  the 
Almighty  as  full  of  wrath,  and  describe  him  as 
angry,  jealous,  and  ready  to  seize  an  occasion  to 
plunge  his  children  into  a  fiery  torment.  But  we 
cannot  hold  in  our  mind  these  two  conceptions,  —  a 
God  of  love  and  a  God  of  wrath.  Such  notions  can- 
not be  married.  One  must  give  way  to  the  other. 
AVhile  we  love  God  we  cannot  be  afraid  of  him ; 
while  we  are  afraid  of  him  we  cannot  love  him.  It 
is  right  to  be  afraid,  but  not  of  God.  Be  afraid  of 
yourself,  be  afraid  of  sin,  be  afraid  of  the  conse- 
quences of  sin,  here  and  hereafter,  but  never  be 
afraid  of  God. 


MORAL  MISALLIANCES.  171 

Asain,  we  unite  the  cedar  and  the  thistle  when- 
ever  we  confound  moral  distinctions  in  conduct  and 
life,  whenever  we  attempt  to  justify  wrong  or  ex- 
cuse it,  whenever  we  marry  high  principles  and  low 
conduct.  Then  we  confuse  and  debase  our  lives. 
I  sometimes  think  it  better  not  to  have  a  lofty 
standard,  than  to  have  it  and  be  false  to  it.  The 
sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost  is  to  defy  and  resist  the 
truth  which  we  have  clearly  seen. 

Beware  of  these  moral  misalliances.  Do  not 
allow  yourselves,  having  adopted  principles  of  duty 
and  right,  to  be  faithless  to  them.  Do  not  consent 
to  be  drawn  down  to  a  lower  plane  of  conduct. 
Keep  to  your  standard.  In  our  State  House,  among 
the  battle-flags  which  hang  in  its  lower  hall,  flags 
torn  and  smoked  and  burnt  on  many  a  bloody  field, 
flass  which  no  one  can  look  at  without  a  sense  of 
pity  and  pride,  there  is  one  staff  from  which  its 
banner  was  wholly  torn  away,  and  which  stands 
there  a  naked  pole.  It  was  carried  into  the  blazing 
tumult  of  Fort  Wagner  on  that  memorable  night 
when  the  colored  soldiers  from  Massachusetts  re- 
ceived their  baptism  of  blood,  and  lifted  their  whole 
race  out  of  contempt  to  the  level  of  men.  The 
bearer  of  the  flacj  was  wounded  and  fell,  but  crawled 
out  of  the  fray,  hugging  his  staff  to  his  breast, 
saying,  "  It  did  not  touch  the  ground  1 "  Let  us 
cling  to  our  standard  of  right ;  cling  to  whatever 
remains  of  it ;  cling  to  the  smallest  shred  of  duty ; 
be  faithful  in  the  least,  as  this  hero  was  faithful. 


172  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

Let  not  our  standard  of  duty  ever  touch  the  grouird. 
It  is  so  easy  to  give  up  our  principles ;  so  hard  to 
stand  by  them.  It  is  so  hard  to  remember  the 
dreams  of  our  youth,  so  hard  to  fight  the  good  fight, 
day  by  day,  year  by  year.  But  we  lose  all  if  we 
willingly  yield  anything,  or  if  we  yield  at  the  last. 
What  avails  it  to  have  stood  by  the  flag  through  the 
roar  of  a  long  battle,  if  we  surrender  at  the  end  ? 
Let  the  cedar  stand  alone,  firm  and  tall,  on  its  moun- 
tain height,  and  condescend  to  no  base  alliance  with 
low,  false,  sinful  evil. 

Hold  fast,  therefore,  the  confidence  and  the  re- 
joicing of  hope,  firm  unto  the  end.  "  Be  not  weary 
of  well-doing,  for  in  due  season  we  shall  reap  if  we 
faint  not."  The  Eoman  poet  said :  "Do  not,  then, 
yield  to  evil,  but  rather  go  on  more  bravely  in  the 
midst  of  evil."  Wliat  is  good  becomes  better  when 
we  have  to  fight  for  it ;  truth  is  nobler  and  dearer 
which  is  earned  by  toil  and  sacrifice.  "  Count  it  all 
joy,"  says  the  Apostle,  "  that  ye  fall  into  divers 
temptations"  and  trials.  Out  of  these  conies  a 
deeper  experience,  a  manlier  patience,  a  surer  hope, 
a  more  intense  conviction.  For  God  loves  those 
whom  he  chastens,  and  it  is  a  sign  of  his  confidence 
in  us  when  he  lays  burdens  on  us.  These  bur- 
dens are  the  means  by  which  we  gain  new  strength, 
power,  success. 


XII. 


MEN'S    SINS    GOING    BEFORE    AND 
AFTER    THEM. 


XII. 

MEN'S   SINS   GOING  BEFORE  AND  AFTER 
THEM. 


"  Some  melius  sins  are  open  beforehand,  going  hefore  to 
judgment ;  and  some  i7ien  they  follow  after ^ 

IT  is  not  often  that  you  find  united  in  the  same 
mind  the  keen  penetration  which  can  distin- 
guish finely  between  unapparent  differences,  and 
the  large  grasp  of  thought  which  can  ascend  to  tlie- 
universal  laws  of  being.  But  the  intellect  of  the 
Apostle  Paul  possessed  both  of  these  mental  quali- 
ties. We  find  in  his  writings  the  sharpest  distinc- 
tions joined  with  the  broadest  generalizations.  The 
above  passage  from  his  first  letter  to  Timothy  is  an 
instance  of  his  power  of  delicate  analysis.  He  here 
describes  two  kinds  of  human  characters  in  a  very 
subtle  way. 

"  There  are  sins  of  two  kinds,"  says  the  Apostle, 
"  and  virtues  of  two  kinds ;  recoo'uize  them  both." 
Some  men's  sins  are  open,  patent  to  all;  vices  of 
Mat^  bringing  down  swift  and  present  retribution. 
These  sins  all  see.     They  go  before  men  to  judg- 


176  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

ment.  The  man's  sins  precede  him ;  Vv^e  see  them 
before  we  see  him.  We  read  them  in  his  face, 
hear  them  in  his  voice,  recognize  them  in  his  whole 
being.  The  judgment  of  those  sins  is  falling  upon 
them  almost  before  he  can  commit  them.  He  is  a 
careless  man ;  he  is  reckless ;  he  is  passionate ;  he 
is  self-indulgent ;  he  is  conceited  ;  he  is  lazy.  His 
character  in  all  such  particulars  announces  itself 
from  afar.  Poor  fellow !  We  know  that  he  is  guilty 
of  such  faults  before  we  hear  of  them.  They  go 
before  him  to  judgment. 

-  As  the  band  of  music  precedes  the  military  com- 
pany, announcing  its  approach,  so  this  sounding 
troop  of  follies  marches  before  the  man,  causing  him 
to  be  judged,  to  be  censured,  to  be  disliked,  to  be 
shunned  by  his  fellow-men. 

But  other  men's  sins  are  latent,  following  after 
them.  They  are  not  the  vices  of  eclat,  but  more 
subtle  and  interior,  consuming  slowly  the  centre  of 
their  being.  In  their  case  the  judgment  is  deferred, 
not  speedily  executed,  and  they  deem  they  have 
escaped  the  penalty.  Thus  there  are  two  sorts 
of  hidden  lives,  —  the  life  of  goodness,  "  hid  with 
Christ  in  God ; "  the  life  of  evil,  hid  with  Satan  in 
hell.  But  there  is  nothing  covered,  good  or  bad, 
which  shall  not  he  revealed,  nor  anything  hid  which 
shall  not  be  known.  Tlie  evil  which  follows  after 
us  will  overtake  us  at  last  if  we  do  not  repent  of 
it  and  forsake  it.  The  good  which  follows  after  us 
will  bless  us  with  its  presence  and  glory. 


SINS  GOING  BEFORE  AND  AFTER.        177 

The  story  of  the  Pharisee  and  Publican  gives 
us  an  example  of  the  two  kinds  of  evil.  The  sins 
of  the  Publican  went  before  him,  apparent  to  all. 
He  belonged  to  a  class  whose  temptations  to  injus- 
tice were  great.  It  had  tlie  power  of  oppressing 
men  by  its  extortions,  of  grinding  the  face  of  the 
poor,  of  cli eating  the  treasury  for  its  own  benefit. 
These  sins  marched  before  these  men,  and  the  best 
of  them  were  believed  to  be  guilty  of  such  extor- 
tion and  dislionesty.  They  had  the  credit  of  all  the 
wrong  they  did,  and  more.  They  were  condemned, 
as  a  class,  to  infamy  and  dislionor.  If  they  tried 
to  do  J'ight,  to  be  just  and  lionest,  no  one  would 
believe  it  of  them.  Their  evil  was  seen,  their  good- 
ness hidden. 

Of  the  Pharisee  the  opposite  was  true.  His 
virtues  went  before  him,  in  full  sight.  He  w^as 
what  we  should  now  call  "  a  professor  of  religion," 
—  a  poor  term,  which  ought  to  be  banished  from 
the  churcli  dictionary.  Every  one  saw  his  fasts, 
heard  his  prayers,  belield  his  large  contributions  to 
the  treasury  of  the  Temple.  His  vices  were  less 
apparent ;  they  were  egotism,  spiritual  pride,  want 
of  charity,  of  humility,  and  of  the  love  of  truth. 
He  was  like  the  tree,  fair  outwardly,  but  rotten 
within,  ready  to  fall  with  the  first  strong  wind. 

Within  the  past  few  years  we  have  had  many  ex- 
amples of  men  who  stood  fair  before  the  community, 
while  they  were  secretly  doing  wrong.     Presidents 
and  treasurers  of  manufacturing   corporations  and 
12  — 


178  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

religious  missionary  associations ;  town  treasurers ; 
bank  tellers  and  cashiers ;  trustees  of  the  property 
of  widows  and  orphans,  are  found  to  have  used 
trust  money  for  private  speculations.  Usually  they 
have  begun  this  course  of  evil  long  before  they 
were  found  out.  During  these  years  they  have 
been  respected  in  the  community,  perliaps  have 
been  teachers  in  Sunday  schools,  have  given  largely 
to  missions,  have  stood  up  and  exhorted  in  prayer- 
meetings.  Meantime  their  sin  has  been  following 
steadily  after  them.  Made  bold  by  impunity,  they 
have  grown  careless,  audacious,  reckless.  At  last 
the  sin  overtakes  them ;  the  day  of  detection  ar- 
rives. The  community  learns  with  astonishment 
that  this  man,  so  much  trusted  and  honored,  has 
been  for  years  a  thief,  stealing  the  property  of 
others,  with  which  to  gamble  in  stocks.  Some  of 
these  men  are  now  in  our  prisons ;  some  have  com- 
mitted suicide ;  some  have  fled  in  disgrace.  All 
have  brought  misery  on  themselves  and  their  fami- 
lies and  friends. 

"  Probably  there  are  now  among  us  others  of  the 
same  sort ;  those  whose  sins  are  steadily  pursuing 
them,  sure  to  overtake  them  by  and  by.  What  a 
dreadful  state  of  mind  such  a  man  must  be  in! 
He  is  obliged  to  appear  cheerful  while  inwardly 
consumed  by  anxiety,  afraid  of  detection  and  dis- 
covery at  every  moment. 

In  one  of  Scott's  novels  there  is  an  account  of 
a  party  of  fugitives  escaping  from  their  enemies, 


SINS   GOING  BEFORE  AND  AFTER.       179 

making  their  way  in  darkness  by  secret  paths  in 
the  mountains,  and  hearing  behind  them  tlie  deep 
bay  of  the  bloodhound  on  their  track,  constantly 
following  their  footsteps.  So  is  the  man  whose  sin 
is  foUowino"  after  him. 

o 

On  one  of  the  post-office  routes  of  the  United 
States  money  had  been  frequently  lost.  A  detec- 
tive was  sent  by  the  department  to  find  the  culprit. 
For  a  long  time  he  quietly  pursued  his  inquiries. 
He  travelled  to  and  fro  along  the  route,  put  pack- 
ages into  the  mail  between  different  offices,  dropped 
letters  here  and  there  containing  marked  bills.  At 
last  he  discovered  the  office  where  the  letters  were 
intercepted.  The  postmaster  was  a  very  respectable 
man,  married  to  a  good  wife,  with  two  sweet  little 
children.  He  kept  a  shop  as  well  as  the  post-office. 
When  the  agent  went  in,  he  was  weighing  out 
goods  to  a  customer.  The  detective  said,  "  Can  I 
see  you  in  private  for  a  moment  ?  "  The  man's  face 
turned  ghastly  pale.  He  knew  that  his  sin  had 
found  him  out.  In  a  moment,  fell  in  ruin  his  char- 
acter, the  respect  and  love  of  others,  his  peace  and 
fortune, — all  that  makes  life  worth  living.  His  sin 
had  followed  after  him  steadily  during  many  years, 
and  now  it  had  come  up  with  him.  Oh,  what  a  fool 
he  had  been  !  For  the  sinner  always  sees  at  last 
that  he  is  also  a  fool. 

In  the  irresistible  logic  of  guilt,  one  evil  leads  to 
another,  one  sin  is  developed  out  of  another.  There 
is   nothing   abrupt,  nothing  casual  in  the  process. 


180  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

The  road  to  sin  is  smooth,  because  an  army  of  trans- 
gressions has  passed  over  it.  AVhen  such  a  devel- 
opment takes  place,  tlie  community  is  filled  with 
consternation.  Men  meet  each  other  and  say,  "Have 
you  heard  wliat  has  happened  ?  Mr.  A.  has  turned 
out  a  defaulter.  Mr.  B.  has  been  robbing  his  bank. 
How  could  he  have  done  it  ? "  Alas !  he  did  it 
long  ago,  when  he  took  the  first  step,  when  he  di- 
verged a  very  little  way  from  the  path  of  right. 
After  that,  every  other  step  was  easy,  natural,  and 
logical. 

But  while  you  condemn  the  man,  pity  him. 
Think  of  his  misery  during  all  these  years.  He 
knows  that  his  sin  is  following  after  him ;  knows 
that  it  will  one  day  find  him  out.  Meantime  he 
lives  in  perpetual  fear  ;  a  nameless  dread  hangs  over 
him  at  every  moment.  Certainly  sin  is  the  greatest 
of  follies.  Such  a  man  digs  a  mine  under  his  house, 
fills  it  with  gunpowder,  makes  a  train  from  it  to 
the  railroad  where  the  hot  sparks  are  falling,  and 
then  places  himself  over  the  mine,  w^aiting  for  the 
explosion. 

Likewise  the  good  works  of  some  persons  are 
manifest  beforehand.  There  is  a  Gjooduess  which  is 
gracious,  and  everywhere  1)eloved  ;  a  goodness  which 
liurts  no  one's  prejudices,  interferes  with  no  one's 
opinions.  Some  persons  are  born  with  good  tem- 
pers, sweet  dispositions,  lovely  manners.  They 
make  sunshine  wherever  they  come.  They  are  like 
Guido's  Apollo,  preceded  and  attended  by  the  beau- 


SINS  GOING  BEFORE  AND  AFTER.       181 

tiful  Hours.  A  band  of  graces  goes  before  them ; 
soft  music  heralds  their  approach.  These  are  the 
saints  whom  all  admire ;  the  saints  of  society ;  the 
heroes  of  the  winning  cause.  It  is  easy  for  them 
to  be  good-natured,  sympathetic,  kind,  for  they  are 
made  so.  We  will  be  thankful  for  this  sort  of  good- 
ness, for  it  makes  life  fair,  and  these  lessons  of  kind- 
liness are  known  and  read  of  all  men.  They  are  our 
alphabet  of  virtue,  easily  learned.  The  sun,  I  sup- 
pose, finds  no  difficulty  in  shining ;  he  cannot  help 
being  radiant ;  and  these  fair  souls  find  no  difficulty 
in  saying  and  doing  kind  things.  They  radiate 
sunshine  naturally. 

But  some  men  have  a  good  inward  purpose,  sur- 
rounded by  a  liarsh,  ungraceful,  egotistical,  comba- 
tive, or  disagreeable  manner.  They  try  to  be  kind  ; 
they  only  succeed  in  being  patronizing.  They 
struggle  to  please ;  they  displease  by  the  very 
effort.  They  come  to  see  you,  desiring  to  make 
themselves  agreeable.  In  five  minutes  they  have 
engaged  you  in  a  sharp  dispute.  They  are  some- 
times so  diffident  that  they  seem  proud.  They 
would  give  the  world  to  be  loved,  and  they  appear 
indifferent.  They  go  through  life  sad  and  gloomy, 
walking  always  on  the  shady  side  of  the  street,  and 
so  men  call  them  sullen.  I  confess  in  reading 
Dante  I  have  felt  a  pity  for  his  poor  sullen  people, 
whom  he  thought  fit  to  immerse  in  the  mud  of 
hell,  and  whose  words  came  bubbling  up  through 
the  slime,  saying,  "Sullen  were  we  in  the  sweet 


182  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

air  that  is  gladdened  by  the  sun,  carrying  lazy 
smoke  in  our  hearts ;  now  lie.  we  sullen  here  in 
tlie  black  mire."  Poor  souls !  they  perhaps  did 
not  wish  to  be  sullen  ;  they  could  not  help  them- 
selves. I  do  not  think  that  the  Almighty  Judge 
will  confirm  Dante's  hard  sentence.  I  like  Burns's 
view  better:  — 

"Who  knows  the  heart,  't  is  He  alone 

Decidedly  can  try  us  ; 
He  knows  each  chord,  its  separate  tone  ; 

Each  spring,  its  various  bias. 
Then  at  the  balance  let's  be  mute; 

We  never  can  adjust  it  ; 
What 's  done  we  partly  may  compute, 

But  know  not  what 's  resisted." 

Old  Dr.  Beecher  was  an  instance  of  one  whose 
good  works  followed  him.  In  him  we  saw  a  man 
brought  up  to  believe  with  undoubting  faith  that 
men  can  be  saved  only  by  orthodox  opinions. 
Earnestly  desirous  of  doing  good,  bent  on  finishing 
the  work  he  had  to  do,  he  was  yet  from  this  nar- 
rowness unable  to  do  justice  to  an  opponent.  Be- 
fore him  marched  in  full  view  his  bigotry,  his 
bitterness  against  heretics,  and  his  superstitious 
fear  of  an  avenging  God.  But  his  good  works  fol- 
lowed after,  —  his  practical  labors  for  temperance, 
for  education,  for  human  improvement,  his  desire 
to  revive  vital  religion  in  human  hearts ;  and  so  at 
last,  when  he  came  to  be  old,  he  had  the  happiness 
of  seeing  himself  surrounded  by  troops  of  friends 


SINS   GOING  BEFORE  AND  AFTER.       183 

and  a  wonderful  family  of  cliildren.  I  think  his 
children  must  have  astonished  him  sometimes.  I 
think  lie  could  not  ever  quite  understand  such  he- 
retical utterances  as  those  which  we  find,  for  exam- 
ple, in  some  of  Mrs.  Stowe's  novels.  But  thus  he 
was  taught  tolerance  and  charity  in  his  old  age, 
and  his  good  works  followed  him  to  the  grave  and 
accompanied  him  into  heaven. 

Not  what  we  seem,  therefore,  but  what  we  are,  is 
the  important  thing.  Not  the  oiitward  life,  but  the 
inward  life,  is  our  real  being.  And  this  inward  real 
life  is  that  which,  following  always  behind  us,  will 
one  day  overtake  us ;  which  one  day  is  to  be  seen 
and  known  of  all  men.  For  there  is  nothing  cov- 
ered which  shall  not  be  revealed,  nothing  hidden 
which  shall  not  be  known. 

It  has  been  taught  in  the  Christian  church  that 
there  is  to  be  a  day  of  judgment,  when  all  the  world 
will  appear  before  God  to  be  judged.  Then  the 
sheep  will  go  on  the  right  hand  and  the  goats  on 
the  left.  Then  we  shall  give  an  account  of  all  the 
deeds  done  in  the  body,  whether  they  be  good  or 
whether  they  be  evil.  Each  man  will  be  judged 
and  sentenced  in  the  presence  of  the  collected 
universe. 

But  this  is  too  prosaic  and  literal.  The  true 
judgment  day  is  always  at  hand.  "  The  hour  Com- 
eth, and  now  is*'  said  Jesus,  "  when  all  that  are 
in  their  graves  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  and  come  forth."     The  day  of  judgment  is  the 


184  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

perpetual  revelation  of  truth.  The  best  definition  of 
it  was  once  given  by  a  boy,  deaf  and  dumb,  whose 
inward  eye  was  opened  while  his  outward  senses 
were  closed.  "  The  judgment  day,"  said  he,  "  is  to 
see  ourselves  as  we  are,  and  to  see  God  as  he  is." 
It  is  first  an  inward  judgment,  —  a  judgment  on 
ourselves,  —  and  then  that  which  is  within  coming 
to  the  light. 

"  If  we  judge  ourselves,"  says  the  Apostle,  "  we 
shall  not  be  judged."  The  important  fact  is  to 
know  ourselves,  and  not  to  deceive  ourselves.  The 
important  fact  is  to  have  inward  truth,  to  love 
what  is  real,  to  seek  to  know  what  we  are  —  really 
are  —  in  tlie  sight,  not  of  men,  but  of  God.  When 
we  do  this,  we  judge  ourselves,  and  need  no  out- 
ward judgment. 

Every  one  has  a  hidden  life  as  well  as  an  open 
life.  There  is  that  in  each  of  us  which  no  one 
can  ever  fully  understand.  People  complain  that 
they  are  "  not  understood."  Who  is  ever  under- 
stood ?  They  seek  "  to  define  their  position."  It  is 
an  idle  attempt.  Let  us  leave  it  to  time  and  to 
God  to  define  our  position.  He  will  make  every- 
thing plain  at  last. 

David  was  grieved  because  he  saw  the  wicked 
man  in  power,  and  flourishing  like  a  green  bay-tree. 
But  he  went  by,  and  lo  !  he  was  gone,  and  his  place 
knew  liini  no  more. 

We  feel  vexed  because  bad  men  succeed  in  get- 
ting place  and  power.     The  charlatan  is  followed  by 


SINS   GOING  BEFORE  AND  AFTER.       185 

crowds  ;  the  demagogue  gets  chosen  to  office.  We 
have  seen  some  very  mean  men  elected  to  tlie 
highest  offices  in  the  United  States.  We  have  seen 
some  very  noble  men  fail  of  public  recognition. 
But  in  the  end  justice  rises  up,  and  weighs  them 
both  in  her  impartial  scales.  Men  in  office  or  out 
of  office  remain  exactly  what  they  were  before. 
Wherever  the  great  man  sits  is  the  head  of  the 
table.  Wherever  the  mean  man  sits  will  be  the 
foot  of  the  table. 

In  Boston  stands  the  statue  of  Josiali  Quincy. 
He  was  never  a  very  popular  man,  —  he  was  too 
manly,  too  independent  to  be  popular.  Wherever 
he  was,  he  was  upright  and  lionorable,  open  and 
manly.  As  Mayor  of  Boston,  he  displeased  many 
persons  by  his  independent  course,  and  so  failed  at 
last  of  a  re-election.  I  heard  him  give  a  farewell 
address  to  the  citizens  in  the  Old  South  Church. 
He  quoted — and  he  had  a  riglit  to  quote  and  ap- 
ply to  himself — tlie  words  of  the  Prophet  Samuel 
when  about  to  resign  his  position  as  ruler  of 
Israel :  " '  Here  I  stand  ;  witness  against  me  to- 
day. Whose  ox  have  I  taken  ?  or  whose  ass  have  I 
taken  ?  Whom  have  I  defrauded  ?  Whom  have 
I  oppressed  ?  At  whose  hands  have  I  received  a 
bribe  to  blind  mine  eyes  therewith  ? '  And  they 
said,  'Thou  hast  not  defrauded  us,  nor  oppressed 
us,  nor  taken  aught  of  any  man.' "  And  now,  after 
many  years,  the  good  works  of  Josiah  Quincy  have 
overtaken  him,  and  he  is  recognized  as  one  of  those 


186  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

figures  who  must  have  a  statue,  though  they  do  not 
need  a  statue,  because  they  are  themselves  statues,— 
permanent  illustrations  of  what  is  just,  honorable, 
and  true. 

Close  beside  that  image  of  Eoman  courage  and 
independence  stands  the  statue  of  Franklin,  a  man 
also  much  misunderstood  in  his  own  time.  He  was 
insulted  hour  after  hour  in  the  presence  of  amused 
English  noblemen,  by  an  abusive  Attorney-General; 
he  was  misrepresented  and  maligned  by  his  Vir- 
ginia colleague  in  France  while  devoting  himself 
to  the  service  of  his  country.  But,  as  Monadnock 
or  the  Matterhorn  may  be  covered  to  the  summit 
with  creeping  mists,  but  is  at  last  sure  to  come  out 
again,  a  great  altar  of  God  for  adoration,  a  kingly 
spirit  throned  among  the  hills,  a  dread  ambassador 
from  earth  to  heaven,  so  these  great  souls  emerge 
from  slander  and  abuse,  and  are  known  at  last  as 
the  lights  of  their  age  and  the  honor  of  their  land. 

The  truths  here  stated  are  very  serious,  both  as 
w^arning  and  encouragement.  To  be  tracked  and 
followed  by  one's  sins  is  a  very  serious  thing ;  to 
be  followed  by  what  is  good  in  us  is  encouraging. 
Both  facts  show  us  the  grandeur  of  the  soul,  the 
value  of  life,  and  tlie  importance  of  what  we  do  and 
are.  If  all  things  come  to  tlie  light,  if  our  acts 
come  to  judgment,  it  is  because  God  values  them, 
and  counts  every  incident  and  adventure  of  our 
life  as  important  to  the  universe.  Thus,  as  the 
Apostle   says,  "  we   are   a   spectacle   to   men   and 


SINS   GOING  BEFORE  AND  AFTER.       187 

angels."     By  seeing  and  knowing  tlie  evil  there  is 
in  us,  we  are  to  be  cured  of  it. 

Herein  we  see  that  wdmt  appears  evil  can  become 
the  means  of  greater  ultimate  good.  Herein  we  see 
the  infinite  love  of  the  Father  penetrating  into  the 
griefs,  woes,  and  wrongs  of  life.  Tlius  shall  an- 
guish and  remorse  prepare  the  way  for  blessings. 
Thus  shall  the  dark  background  of  human  de- 
pravity be  transfigured  and  transformed  by  the  di- 
vine radiance  of  truth.  Thus  shall  men  be  brought 
to  repentance  and  life,  and  at  last  every  knee  bow 
to  the  divine  truth,  and  God  become  the  all  in  all. 


XIII. 

EVERY    "NOW"    THE    DAY    OF 
SALVATION. 


XIII. 

EVERY  "NOW"  THE  DAY  OF  SALYATIOK 


I  SUPPOSE  we  have  all  heard  earnest  sermons 
preached,  the  object  of  which  was  to  prove  the 
importance  of  the  particular  "now"  in  which  we 
then  chanced  to  be.  *'It  is  the  end  of  the  year," 
said  the  preacher;  "perhaps  we  shall  never  see 
another  year.  Noiv  is  the  only  time  we  have  for 
repentance."  Or  perhaps  he  said,  "You  are  noio 
serious ;  you  now  feel  the  importance  of  a  religious 
life ;  this  may  be  the  last  time  God  may  move  your 
heart.  Begin,  therefore,  to  obey  and  love  him  noio.'" 
Or  he  may  have  said,  if  he  were  a  revival  preacher, 
"This  season  of  religious  aw^akening  is  possibly 
your  only  opportunity.  Use  it  now."  It  was  this 
particular  now  which  was  the  day  of  salvation. 

But  let  us  go  further,  and  consider  a  larger  doc- 
trine concerning  "the  now."  Not  any  particular 
"now,"  but  all  "nows,"  are  days  of  salvation.  Every 
now ;  now  everywhere ;  now  always,  is  the  impor- 
tant moment.  All  that  is  interesting  and  vital  is 
concentrated  in  the  present  hour.     Not  by  dwelling 


192  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

on  the  past,  not  by  living  in  the  future,  but  by  bring- 
ing the  past  and  the  future  into  the  present,  do  we 
accomplish  anything  real,  gain  any  true  satisfaction. 

Eeligious  people  formerly  believed  that  it  was 
their  duty  to  desert  the  present  life  and  dwell  in 
meditation  on  tlie  world  to  come.  This  was  carried 
furthest  by  the  monks  and  anchorites  of  former 
days.  But  even  yet  the  same  state  of  mind  is 
sometimes  taught  as  a  duty.  We  are  told  to  fix  our 
mind  on  the  future  life ;  to  consider  our  last  end ; 
to  meditate  on  immortality  and  heaven  and  the 
world  to  come.  !N"o  doubt  it  is  interesting  to  spec- 
ulate on  the  nature  of  a  future  state  ;  but  I  doubt 
if  there  is  much  religious  profit  therein.  I  do  not 
think  it  w^as  intended  that  we  should  think  much 
about  death  or  the  hereafter  while  we  are  here. 
God  has  separated  the  future  life  from  this  by  an 
impenetrable  veil,  to  show  that  he  means  us,  while 
w^e  are  here,  to  think  of  this  world,  not  of  that  one. 
All  our  duties  are  here  and  now.  We  are  to  be 
interested  in  tliese,  not  in  what  is  to  come  by  and 
by.  To  try  to  meditate  on  a  w^orld  of  which  we 
can  know  scarcely  anything  cannot  be  a  duty.  It 
leaves  the  mind  empty.  It  is  evident  that  God 
does  not  mean  to  have  us  think  much  about  the 
other  world  wdiile  we  are  in  this  one.  It  would 
take  off  our  attention  too  much  from  present  in- 
terests and  duties. 

More  than  that,  we  do  not  enter  immortality  by 
thinking  of  a  future  life,  but  by  communing  with 


EVERY  "NOW"   THE  DAY  OF  SALVATION.    193 

God  and  infinite  realities  now.  "  Immortality," 
says  Dr.  Channing,  "  must  begin  here."  He  here 
expresses  the  same  thought  which  Jesus  declared 
in  those  memorable  words  to  Martha,  —  so  often 
repeated,  so  seldom  understood,  —  "I  am  resurrec- 
tion and  life."  Martha  thought  resurrection  was 
some  future  event.  "  I  know,"  said  she,  "  that  my 
brother  will  rise  again  in  the  resurrection  at  the 
last  day."  "  I  am  resurrection  and  life,"  replied  the 
Master ;  "  he  who  believes  in  me,"  —  he  who  has 
my  faith,  he  who  sees  God's  truth  and  love  as  I  see 
it, —  "thougli  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live."  He 
who  has  this  faith  does  not  die.  Death  is  nothing 
to  him.  He  is  so  full  of  life  that  death  becomes  a 
fact  of  little  consequence,  not  worth  occupying  his 
attention.  He  believes  he  must  live  on,  not  because 
of  any  argument,  but  because  he  has  immortal  life 
abiding  in  him.  A  soul  full  of  divine  life,  living 
from  God  for  man,  giving  itself  to  great  duties  for 
this  world  and  for  humanity,  has  not  time  to  think 
of  deatli,  and  has  no  occasion  to  think  of  it.  It  is 
immortal  already.  It  has  already  passed  the  gate 
of  death.  The  death  of  the  soul  is  the  only  death  we 
need  fear.  If  our  soul  has  become  alive  by  faith, 
love,  and  goodness,  we  have  immortality  now. 

God  himself  is  the  perpetual  now.  When  he 
gave  his  name  to  Moses,  he  said,  "  I  am  the  I  Am." 
Only  when  we  live  in  the  present  do  we  commune 
with  him,  the  ever-present  God,  the  eternal  Now. 
Even  the  heathen  had  a  sight  of  this  truth.     On 

13 


194  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

the  temple  at  Delphi  was  engraven  the  two  Greek 
letters  '*'  epsilon  "  and  "  iota,"  meaning  "  Thou  Art." 
It  was  the  response  of  natural  religion  to  the  re- 
ligion revealed  in  the  soul.  The  poor  insane  poet, 
Christopher  Smart,  is  said  to  have  written  while  in 
the  asylum  that  striking  hymn  wliich  is,  so  far  as 
I  know,  the  only  place  where  this  idea  is  expressed 
in  literature :  — 

"  Tell  them  '  I  cam,'  Jehovah  said 

To  Moses,  while  earth  heard  with  dread  ; 

And,  smitten  to  the  heart, 
x\t  once,  above,  beneath,  around, 
All  nature,  without  voice  or  sound, 

Eeplied,  '  0  Lord,  thou  art ! '  " 

He  only  knows  the  future  well  who  knows  the 
present  well.  The  sagacious  man  can  foresee,  be- 
cause he  can  see.  Insight  is  the  only  foresight. 
This,  I  think,  applies  to  all  prophetic  power,  even 
to  that  which  is  considered  miraculous.  It  is  sug- 
gested in  that  phrase  which  Jesus  used  more  than 
once,  "  The  hour  conieth,  and  now  is."  Jesus  saw 
what  was  to  come,  because  he  saw  the  germs  and 
seeds  of  the  future  in  the  present.  This  he  implied 
when  he  rebuked  the  Pharisees  for  not  being  able 
to  see  the  signs  of  the  times.  "You  can  foretell 
that  it  is  to  be  a  fair  or  foul  day  to-morrow,  by  ob- 
serving the  looks  of  the  clouds  around  the  set- 
ting sun.  Why  cannot  ye  discern  the  signs  of  the 
times   in    the   same   way?"     The  present  hour  is 


EVERY  ''NOW"   THE  DAY  OF  SALVATION.    195 

always  big  with  tlie  future.  No  historic  fact  comes 
outwardly  in  its  manifestation  till  it  has  long  been 
present  inwardly  by  its  law.  Jesus  foresaw  his  own 
death,  the  denial  of  Peter,  tlie  betrayal  of  Judas, 
the  coming  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  because  he 
knew  what  was  already  in  men.  He  had  seen  the 
clouds  gathering  for  that  great  storm.  He  under- 
stood tliat  the  logic  of  events  would  compel  the 
rulers  and  Pharisees,  unless  they  repented,  to  kill 
him.  All  his  severe  rebukes  had  for  their  object  to 
force  them  to  stop  and  think,  and  perhaps  repent. 
And  if  they  killed  him,  he  knew  what  was  to  fol- 
low. Piejecting  the  peaceful  king,  the  spiritual 
Messiah,  nothing  remained  but  that  they  should 
look  for  an  outward  salvation,  a  freedom  for  the  na- 
tion from  its  Pioman  yoke,  and  this  would  bring  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  peoj^le.  All  this 
Jesus  foresaw  because  he  looked  with  such  profound 
vision  into  the  present  state  of  men's  souls.  He 
entered  into  the  "  now  "  by  such  penetrating  insight 
that  he  could  predict  what  was  to  come  out  of  it. 

There  is  a  sacramental  religion  which  promises 
a  future  salvation  on  condition  of  certain  actions 
which  are  supposed  to  possess  a  saving  efficacy. 
But  we  degrade  the  sacraments  when  we  ascribe  to 
them  any  such  magical  charm.  Unless  they  fill  us 
now  with  better  convictions  and  larger  love,  they 
can  do  us  no  good  hereafter.  N"o  mere  routine  of 
ritual  or  church-going  will  help  us,  except  by  lifting 
the  soul  nearer  to  God.     We  must   believe   in  a 


196  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

present  salvation,  and  possess  that.  Christ  comes 
to  us  here  and  now.  Every  noiu  is  the  day  of  sal- 
vation. We  are  saved  when  we  escape  from  our 
selfishness  into  love,  from  our  worldliness  into 
purity,  from  our  false  lives  into  true  ones.  Then 
we  are  figuratively  said  to  be  born  again ;  for  it  is 
like  going  into  another  world  to  pass  out  of  selfish- 
ness into  generosity,  and  to  enter  again  the  child- 
hood of  simplicity  and  innocent  purposes. 

In  the  same  way  we  need  a  present  Bible,  a  Bible 
to  meet  our  present  wants.  The  Bible  helps  us 
when  we  see  in  it  what  applies  to  our  own  day  and 
time.  We  recognize  iu  each  of  its  characters  the 
type  of  our  own  temptations,  trials,  hopes,  sins,  and 
pardon.  AVe  are  Adam  and  Eve  in  the  Garden. 
We  are  Abraham,  going  out  he  knows  not  where, 
trusting  in  God.  We  are  David,  trusting,  hoping, 
sinning,  repenting,  being  forgiven.  If  we  look,  we 
shall  find  sometliing  of  Peter  in  ourselves,  some- 
thing of  the  Pharisee,  of  the  Sadducee,  something 
of  Pilate,  something,  perhaps,  of  Judas.  What 
good  does  it  do  to  believe  that  God  forgave  David 
his  sin  and  Peter  his  sin,  unless  we  can  believe 
that  God  will  forgive  our  sin  also  ?  The  Bible  is 
the  book  of  books,  because  it  is  so  filled  with  life 
that  it  seems  to  talk  with  us,  to  walk  with  us  as 
Jesus  walked  to  Emmaus  with  his  disciples,  and 
our  heart  burns  within  us  as  we  read  it.  The  best 
proof  of  its  inspiration  is  that  it  is  always  new, 
always  fresh,  a  present  inspiration. 


EVERY  "iVOTT"   THE  DAY  OF  SALVATION.    197 

111  like  manner  heaveii  aud  hell  are  both  liere. 
We  escape  a  future  hell  by  coming  out  of  our  pres- 
ent liells.  AVe  reach  a  future  heaven  by  the  portal 
of  a  present  heaven.  How  many  hells  do  we  not 
pass  through  in  this  world,  —  hells  of  anger,  of  pride, 
of  cruel  hatred,  of  cold  selfishness,  of  bitter  remorse  ! 
The  worm  which  does  not  die  is  the  sense  of  tlie 
irreparable  past,  the  thought, ''  I  might  have  done 
differently,  but  it  is  now  too  late."  The  fire  which 
is  not  quenched  is  the  unsatisfied  desire  for  more ; 
the  ambition  which  never  has  enough,  the  greed 
which  can  never  be  contented ;  the  vanity,  con- 
ceit, or  pride  wdiich  makes  itself  the  one  object  in 
the  universe.  And  we  escape  these  present  hells 
and  enter  a  present  heaven  whenever  we  can  really 
trust  ourselves  to  a  Father's  love ;  submit  ourselves 
to  a  divine  will ;  consent  to  be  led  by  an  infinite 
wisdom,  and  so  walk  in  this  world  surrounded  by  a 
perpetual  light  from  above. 

The  joy  of  childhood  is  that  it  is  intent  on  the 
present.  It  does  not  brood,  it  does  not  long.  Brood- 
ing and  longing  are  also  worms  which  gnaw  the 
heart.  Wishing  for  something  we  have  not  got, 
lamenting  over  something  we  have  lost,  —  tliis  takes 
the  element  of  joy  out  of  existence,  and  leaves  us 
vapid,  feeble,  dissatisfied.  Satisfaction  means  joy 
in  tlie  present  hour.  We  are  satisfied  when  we  are 
able  to  see  in  the  noiv  enough  of  beauty,  enougli  of 
good,  to  feed  the  soul.  Some  people  are  never  satis- 
fied because  always  thinking,  "  Why  can  I  not  have 


198  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

that  ?  What  a  pity  I  did  not  do  this  ! "  The  thing 
they  do  not  possess  is  that  which  they  prize  the 
most. 

Genius  also,  as  well  as  happiness,  is  the  power  of 
seeing  what  there  is  in  the  present  moment.  Tal- 
ent takes  what  has  been  thought  and  said  before 
and  reproduces  it  in  new  and  brilliant  forms.  But 
genius  is  the  power  of  seeing,  in  some  present  fact, 
the  divine  truth  and  beauty  which  no  one  else  has 
noticed.  Most  of  our  literature  comes  from  men 
of  talent,  who  give  us  repetitions  of  what  men  of 
genius  said  in  past  centuries.  Young  poets  give  us 
dilutions  of  Tennyson  or  Browning ;  young  critics 
offer  us  Macaulay  or  Mill,  as  the  case  may  be,  in  a 
feebler  form;  artists  copy  other  artists  instead  of 
copying  nature ;  orators  model  themselves  on  the 
standard  and  well-known  masterpieces  in  their  line. 
But  genius  does  not  repeat  the  old  things.  To 
genius,  Now  is  the  accepted  time.  Shakspeare 
finds  all  humanity  in  his  own  soul  and  in  the  men 
and  women  around  him,  and  throws  the  light  from 
his  own  heart  into  history,  illuminating  its  dark- 
ness, as  the  revolving  light  on  our  coast  sweeps  the 
horizon  with  its  helpful  flame.  He  brings  up  the 
dead  past,  and  makes  that  a  living  present,  till 
Ccesar  and  Coriolanus,  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  the 
streets  of  ancient  Eome,  the  Eialto  of  Venice,  the 
old  kings  of  Scotland,  come  up  before  us  alive  and 
fresh.     The  living  now  vivifies  past  and  future. 

Between  our  eyes  and  the  fact  which  is  before 


EVERY  '^NOW"   THE  DAY  OF  SALVATION.    199 

our  eyes  is  usually  a  film,  composed  of  what  we 
have  heard  and  read  about  it.  We  see  things 
through  this  glass  darkly.  Genius  breaks  the  glass 
and  sees  them  face  to  face.  To  genius,  the  present 
fact  is  the  most  interesting  of  all  events,  full  of 
wisdom,  interest,  meaning.  And  the  blessed  power 
of  genius  is  this  :  that  it  can  enable  iis  also  to  find 
this  wonder  and  beauty  in  all  that  is  around  us  and 
before  us.  We  go  to  Scotland  or  to  Cumberland 
to  view  the  places  which  Walter  Scott  or  Words- 
worth have  made  interesting.  Looking  through 
their  eyes  we  can  find  something  interesting  in  what 
otherwise  we  should  never  notice. 

Goodness  also  consists  chiefly  in  this,  that  noiv  is 
its  accepted  time.  To  be  good  is  to  be  able  to  do 
the  present  duty.  Some  of  us  are  always  a  little 
behindhand,  and  never  quite  catch  up  with  what 
we  ought  to  perform.  We  see  the  train  going  out 
of  one^'end  of  the  station  just  as  we  are  entering  the 
other.  Instead  of  doing  with  our  might  whatever 
our  hand  finds  to  do,  ^ve  think  we  shall  find  a  more 
convenient  season  hereafter.  How  much  would 
we  not  give  for  an  opportunity  of  talking  with  the 
Apostle  Paul !  Felix,  the  proconsul,  had  the  op- 
portunity, but  he  sent  Paul  away,  and  said  he  would 
see  him  again  some  other  time.  Probably  the  hour 
had  come  for  his  afternoon  rest,  and  so  he  put  off 
his  conversation  with  the  Apostle.  Of  all  mottoes, 
the  one  I  should  like  to  have  written  over  my  door 
would  be,  "Do  it  Now."     Was  it  Dr.  Johnson  who 


200  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

had  engraved  on  his  watch  the  Greek  text,  Nv^ 
epxerac,  —  "  The  Night  corneth  "  ? 

The  postponement  of  duty  usually  comes  from 
cowardice.  We  have  not  the  courage  to  face  the 
present  moment,  and  so  with  one  consent  we  beg  to 
be  excused.  But  I  once  knew  a  woman  so  brave 
that  she  never  shrank  from  an  occasion,  or  lost 
an  opportunity,  or  postponed  a  work.  She  always 
seemed  to  have  more  power  than  she  could  use. 
She  was  ready  to  meet  any  person,  any  need,  any 
demand.  When  the  thing  was  decided,  then  it 
was  done.  Her  thought  and  act  were  one.  I  have 
known  a  man  who  never  said,  "  I  will  think  about 
it  and  tell  you  to-morrow."  He  was  always  ready 
to  do  the  best  lie  could  do  now.  In  that  w^ay  he 
put  so  much  into  life  that  he  seemed  to  have 
done  the  work  of  ten  men.  It  is  said  that  the  pro- 
ductive power  of  an  acre  of  land  has  never  yet  been 
ascertained.  So  I  think  that  it  has  never  yet  been 
ascertained  how  much  can  be  done  in  a  single  day. 
Time  is  not  wanting.  There  is  time  enough  for  all 
we  need  to  learn,  to  see,  to  do.  What  we  need  is 
power,  that  is,  quantity  of  life. 

The  Jews,  in  the  time  of  Christ,  were  expecting 
the  reign  of  the  Messiah,  which  they  called  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven.  They  had  read  the  prophetic 
descriptions  of  those  glorious  days,  and  believed  in 
them.  When  Messiah  comes  he  will  teach  us  all 
things,  he  will  help  us  do  all  things.  It  will  be 
easy  then  to  be  good,  it  will  be  natural  to  love  God 


EVERY  "NOW"   THE  DAY  OF  SALVATION.    201 

and  man.     But  till  he  comes  we  must  remain  as  we 
are.     One  of  the  marvellous  qualities  of  Jesus  was 
his  ability  to  see  that  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  was 
at  hand,  and  that  he  himself  was  the  Messiah.    "  The 
hour  Cometh  and  now  is," he  said.     "I  that  speak 
to  thee  am  he."     The  Jews  had  not  the  power  to 
rise  to  this  height  of  immediate  vision,  and  see  with 
open  eyes  the  actual  reign  of  God.     "  No,"  said  they, 
"you  cannot  be  the    Christ.     It  is  blasphemy  for 
you  to  profess  to   be  the  Christ.     Can   any  good 
thing  come  out  of  Nazareth  ?     Can  anything  which 
we  see  and  know  be  divine  ?     We  know  this  man 
whence  he  is,  but  when  Christ  comes  no  one  will 
know  from  whence  he  came.    Messiah  will  not  walk 
and  talk  with  the  common  people  like  one  of  them- 
selves.    He  will  be  too  great  and  inaccessible  for 
that.     How  absurd,  indeed  how  wicked,  for  a  man 
to  say  he  is  the  Christ,  when  we  know  his  father  and 
mother,  and  whose  brothers  and  sisters  are  with  us ! 
His   father   is    Joseph   the   carpenter,  whose  shop 
is  in  the  street  called   El-Husseph,  in  Nazareth." 
Most  people  are  mentally  too   far-sighted,  —  they 
can  see  what  is  at  a  distance,  not  what  is  near.     In 
the  vale  of  Chamounix  you  cannot  see  the  summit 
of  Mont  Blanc;   but   when   you  go  fifteen   miles 
away,  it  rises  above  all  lesser  mountains,  and  soars 
up  into  the  skies  in  vast  fields  of  dazzling  snow,  with 
frozen  rivers  plunging  down  enormous  ravines  ;  rises 
like  a  cloud  of  incense  from  the  earth,  in  its  charm 
and  wonder.     So  the  world  had  to  go  away  several 


202  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

centuries  from  Jesus  before  it  could  behold  him. 
His  own  oTeatness  was  to  be  able  to  find  in  himself 

o 

the  essential  character  of  the  Messiah  ;  to  find  power 
in  himself  to  fulfil  all  prophecy;  to  know  that 
the  hour  had  come  and  was  already  present;  to 
realize  the  majestic  visions  of  Isaiah  and  David, 
and  to  say,  "  I  who  speak  to  thee  am  he." 

In  taking  this  ground,  Jesus  w^ent  back  to  the 
orifrinal  Mosaic  idea.  The  whole  reliqion  of  Moses 
bore  directly  on  the  present  life.  Other  religions 
laid  the  main  stress  on  the  future  world  and  dis- 
paraged the  present.  But  original  Hebraism  said 
not  a  word  about  the  hereafter;  it  put  its  whole 
religious  life  into  the  hour,  "j^ow"  was  its  ac- 
cepted time.  Its  God  was  a  present  God  ;  Jeliovah 
dwelling  in  the  midst  of  the  people,  going  before 
them  in  their  journeys,  staying  with  them  as  their 
King.  This  life  was  so  full  of  God's  presence  that 
they  did  not  think  of  the  future.  A  future  life  is 
hardly  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament.  The  re- 
ligious problem  of  the  Brahmins  and  Buddhists  is 
how  to  escape  from  time  into  eternity ;  the  problem 
of  Judaism  and  Christianity  is  how  to  put  eternity 
into  time. 

Jesus  renewed  and  fulfilled  the  old  Mosaic  idea, 
the  old  prophetic  vision  of  "  Immanuel,  God  with 
us."  The  Tabernacle  of  God  was  with  men;  the 
New  Jerusalem  came  down  from  heaven.  The 
Resurrection  and  the  Life  were  not  future,  but 
present.     Christianity  came  as  a  new  inspiration  to 


EVERY  ''NOW"   THE  DAY  OF  SALVATION.    203 

man,  bringing  God  near,  immortality  near,  heaven 
near;  and  making  them  all  present,  immediate,  a 
part  of  each  man's  life,  not  far  from  any  one  of  us. 

The  Christian  Church  has  often  backslidden  to 
the  standpoint  of  Brahmanism  in  asserting  that 
heaven  must  be  postponed  to  the  next  world,  and 
that  it  is  necessary  to  be  miserable  and  sinful  as 
long  as  we  live  in  this.  It  has  loved  to  say  that 
"  former  days  were  better  than  these,"  and  to  com- 
plain of  the  degeneracy  of  tlie  times.  But  true 
Christianity  never  does  this.  It  looks  at  the  Now 
as  miraculous  and  full  of  a  divine  spirit.  It  makes 
the  world  full  of  God  now,  —  nature  full  of  God,  man 
a  child  of  God,  the  Holy  Spirit  coming  and  dwelling 
in  all  hearts  that  open  themselves  to  receive  it. 

What  we  need,  therefore,  at  this  time  as  much  as 
ever,  is  to  believe  in  a  present  salvation,  and  to  be 
sure  that  Now  is  the  accepted  time.  We  need  a  God 
at  hand,  not  afar  off;  a  present  and  not  a  past 
inspiration ;  a  present  Saviour,  a  present  Immor- 
tality, an  eternal  life  abiding  in  us,  and  a  heaven 
in  our  midst. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  objected  that  to  live  only  in 
the  moment  belongs  to  animals  and  to  children ; 
that  the  chief  dignity  of  man  is  to  look  before  and 
after,  —  to  go  back  to  the  past  and  forward  to  the 
future  ;  that  so  only  he  finds  true  freedom  and  can 
emancipate  himself  from  the  dominion  of  time  and 
space;  that  progress  consists  in  bringing  the  past 
and  future  to  bear  on  the  present,  and  that  goodness 


204  EllERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

consists  in  rising  into  communion  with  universal 
truth  and  immortal  goodness.  I  grant  it;  but  this 
does  not  disturb  my  argument. 

The  animal  lives  in  the  present  moment  only. 
The  child  lives  in  the  present  moment  chiefly.  The 
man  returns  to  the  past  and  dwells  there,  penetrates 
the  future  and  lingers  there,  lives  in  memory,  lives 
in  fancy.  Tlie  first  stage  of  being  is  to  live  only  or 
chiefly  in  the  present;  the  second  stage  is  to  live  in 
the  past  or  the  future.  But  the  highest  condition  is 
to  come  back  once  more  to  the  present  but  on  a 
higher  plane ;  to  bring  the  past  and  future  together 
in  every  moment ;  to  live  now,  fed  with  all  the  re- 
sources of  history  and  prophecy.  The  present  mo- 
ment is  the  element  of  real  life ;  but  this  life  is  to 
be  enriched  by  memory  and  by  hope,  by  experience 
and  by  expectation. 

Therefore,  we  say  again,  that  noia  is  the  accepted 
time.  The  Bible  of  the  past,  venerable  and  holy, 
must  be  translated  into  the  language  of  to-day,  and 
become  a  living  Bible  to  meet  the  needs  of  men 
and  women  here  in  New  Enoiand.  Christ,  about 
whose  past  history  men  are  so  doubtful,  will  become 
more  and  more  the  centre  of  the  human  race  as  his 
salvation  reigns  within,  and  comes  outwardly  into 
our  own  society  to  save  publicans  and  sinners  in 
our  midst.  The  great  record  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment will  cease  to  be  an  object  of  criticism  when 
we  behold  its  miracles  surpassed  by  those  done  by 
the  power  of  Jesus  among  ourselves.     All  doubts 


EVERY  ''NOW"    THE  DAY  OF  SALVATION.    205 

of  a  future  life  will  cease  when  we  have  eternal  life 
abiding  in  us  here.  All  gloom  concerning  sin  and 
misery  will  pass  away  when  we  see  liow  our  own 
past  sin  and  pain  have  been  transfigured  by  Chris- 
tianity, and  changed  into  goodness  and  joy.  Thus 
shall  the  past  and  future  be  made  one  with  the 
present,  and  every  Now  become  the  accepted  time 
and  day  of  salvation. 


XIV. 
STANDING  IN  THE  DOORWAY. 


XIV. 

STANDING  IN   THE  DOORWAY. 


-TTTE  must  all  have  noticed  the  habit  so  many 
W  have  of  standing  in  doorways,  —  in  the  door- 
way of  a  railway  station,  of  a  lecture  hall,  of  a 
church  of  places  of  amusement.  Sometimes  people 
stand  in  the  doorway  looking  out,  hut  will  not  go 
out  After  church  is  over,  or  when  the  concert  or 
lecture  is  finished,  they  walk  rapidly  till  they  reach 
the  doorway,  and  then  they  relax  therr  hurr.ed 
steps,  and  come  to  a  standstill,  regardless  of  tho  e 
behind,  who  are  thus  hindered  from  gomg  forth 
When  they  arrive  at  the  door,  they  hesitate  as  . 
uncertain  which  way  to  go,  and  reluctant  to  trus 
themselves  to  the  uncertain  wbrld  outside.  Like 
the  people  in  the  hymn, 

"They  linger,  sliiverinc;,  on  the  brink, 
And  fear  to  launch  away." 
In  like  manner  people  hesitate  about  going  in. 
At  public  meetings  of  all  sorts,  at  political  meetings 
meetings  for  philanthropic  or  religious  objects,  men 
U 


210  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

fill  the  doorways,  looking  in,  but  not  able  to  make 
up  their  minds  to  enter.  They  will  not  go  in  them- 
selves, and  those  who  are  ^oing  in  they  hinder. 
They  are  not  quite  sure  whether  or  not  they  wish 
to  go  in.  They  do  not  know  if  the  meeting  is  for 
them,  if  they  belong  there,  if  they  have  a  right  to 
enter,  if  they  shall  find  a  seat,  if  tliey  shall  en- 
joy themselves.  The  motive  which  led  them  to 
the  place  was  strong  enough  to  bring  them  to  the 
door,  but  not  strong  enough  to  carry  them  over  the 
threshold. 

These  habits  in  our  neighbors  are  so  annoying 
that  we  notice  them,  though  we  may  often  do  the 
same  things  ourselves.  When  we  are  prevented 
from  going  in  or  from  going  out  by  these  hesitat- 
ing and  delaying  people,  we  are  not  pleased.  And 
sometimes  I  think  it  might  be  well  to  have  placards 
over  the  doors  of  public  places  to  warn  persons  not 
to  linger  in  the  passage.  Just  as  we  are  warned 
not  to  walk  on  the  grass  in  the  Public  Garden, 
why  not  have  placards  to  remonstrate  against  stand- 
ing in  the  doorway  ? 

But  a  similar  want  of  decision  is  to  be  found  in 
other  matters.  There  are  intellectual  doorways  — 
gates  of  thought  —  where  undecided  persons  linger* 
uncertain  whether  to  go  in  or  to  stay  out.  There  are 
people  who  cannot  make  up  their  minds  to  believe 
nor  yet  to  disbeliev^e.     These  we  call  sceptics. 

Now,  a  transient  state  of  scepticism  is,  no  doubt, 
sometimes  inevitable.     Men  ought  not  to  commit 


STANDING  IN  THE  DOORWAY.  211 

themselves  to  a  creed  without  reflection.  There 
is  neither  sin  nor  shame  in  keeping  one's  mind  in 
suspense,  so  long  as  we  see  no  good  reason  for  be- 
lieving. Scepticism  may  be  a  step  from  unbelief  to 
belief,  as  well  as  one  in  the  other  direction.  As  a~ 
step  it  is  very  well,  only  it  is  not  well  to  remain 
standing  on  the  step  forever.  Go  in,  or  go  out.  It 
is  better  to  do  one  or  the  other. 

Doubt  or  uncertainty  about  great  moral  and  relig- 
ious truths  is  not  an  indication  of  mental  strength, 
but  rather  of  mental  weakness.  There  is  no  strength 
in  unbelief;  all  mental  strength  comes  from  believ- 
ing. It  comes  from  the  sight  of  truth,  from  clear 
and  strong  convictions.  There  may  be  no  guilt  in 
doubting,  but  there  is  always  weakness. 

There  are,  however,  those  who  take  credit  to 
themselves  as  advanced  thinkers,  because  they  doubt 
and  question  all  things.  When  a  steamboat  gets 
into  a  fog,  it  does  not  advance ;  if  it  does,  it  is 
in  danger  of  shipwreck.  The  mind  which  is  in 
a  fog  cannot  advance ;  it  drifts  helplessly,  without 
aim. 

This  is  a  disease  of  our  time,  and  one  which  we 
all  share.  We  are  in  a  transition  state,  —  standing 
in  the  doorway  of  many  a  belief.  Where  our 
fathers  were  certain,  we  doubt.  This  is  unavoid- 
able ;  only  let  us  not  prolong  the  situation  unneces- 
sarily. Let  us  make  up  our  minds  when  we  can, 
and  be  glad  to  do  so.  Let  us  believe  as  much  as 
we  are  able  honestly  and  sincerely  to  believe,  being 


212  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

sure   that  the  mind   was  made  to  see  and  accept 
truth,  and  not  to  remain  in  perpetual  uncertainty. 

We  cannot  believe  all  that  our  fathers  did,  for  in 
some  things  their  belief  seems  to  us  to  have  been 
false.  But  we  can  only  advance  by  believing  more, 
not  by  believing  less.  They  believed  God  to  be 
a  stern  king;  let  us  believe  in  him  as  an  infinite 
Father.  Tlius,  we  believe  more  than  they  did, 
since  the  idea  of  a  fatlier  includes  justice  and 
mercy  both ;  authority  and  love  and  wisdom.  I 
read  tracts  and  hear  sermons  which  solemnly  warn 
us  not  to  trust  too  much  to  the  divine  mercy,  be- 
cause God  is  not  only  merciful,  but  also  just. 
They  tell  us  it  is  necessary  first  to  be  afraid  be- 
cause he  is  just,  and  then  to  be  glad  because  he 
is  merciful.  A  pious  man,  on  this  theory,  is  always 
vacillatiug  between  fear  and  hope.  Dr.  Emmons, 
who  preached  this  doctrine  during  fifty  years,  did 
not  know,  on  his  death-bed,  whether  he  was  to  be 
saved  or  not.  He  hoped  he  was,  but  thought  it 
very  possible  he  might  be  lost.  He  was  still  stand- 
ing in  tlie  doorway;  he  had  not  gone  into  the 
peace  of  the  gospel.  But  a  child  who  loves  his 
father  has  no  such  alternations  ;  no  such  chill  of 
fear,  followed  by  the  fever  of  hope.  He  does  not 
say,  "  I  ought  not  to  trust  too  entirely  to  my  father's 
love;  I  ought  to  remember  he  is  just  as  well  as 
merciful."  No ;  he  trusts  his  father  without  doubt 
or  fear.  He  knows  that  his  father's  justice  is  only 
another  form  of  his  love.     He  does  not  stand  in 


STANDING  IN  THE  DOORWAY.  213 

the  doorway;  he  goes  in,  and  is  at  home  and  at 
peace. 

If  we  reject  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  do 
not  accept  God  as  a  mysterious  triad,  let  us  not, 
therefore,  stand  hesitating  in  the  doorway  of  thought 
concerning  God,  but  endeavor  to  enter  in  and 
learn  more  of  him.  We  may  see  more  of  God  in  the 
faith  of  reason  and  in  the  light  of  advancing  science 
than  our  fathers  did ;  more  and  not  less.  We  may 
know  God  as  the  ever-present  power,  pervading  all 
time  and  space,  —  filling  the  vast  regions  wliieh 
astronomy  has  disclosed,  the  enormous  periods  of 
time  which  geology  reveals.  Yet  we  may  find  him 
no  less  present  as  a  father,  as  a  guiding  providence, 
as  protector  and  friend.  We  may  still  say,  "  Our 
Fatlier  who  art  in  heaven."  We  may  say,  "The 
Lord  is  my  shepherd ;  I  shall  not  want."  Let  us 
not  stand  in  the  doorway  of  this  majestic  temple 
wliere  God  abides,  but  go  in  and  live  in  that  Di- 
vine Presence,  and  be  blest. 

Nor  let  us  stand  in  the  doorway  of  Christianity, 
hesitating  whether  to  go  in,  because  perhaps  we 
have  not  made  up  our  mind  about  miracles,  or 
about  the  supernatural,  or  about  inspiration.  Do 
we  gain  peace  and  comfort  in  the  words  of  Jesus  ? 
Is  he  the  best  teacher  we  can  find ;  that  the  world 
has  found  ?  When  we  go  to  him  in  trouble  do  our 
souls  find  rest  ?  When  we  are  conscious  of  sin  does 
he  reveal  to  us  the  pardoning  love  of  God  ?  Has  lie 
put  that  spirit  in  our  heart  by  which  we  say  "  Our 


214  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

Father  "  ?  Christians  are  not  what  they  ought  to  be. 
Granted.  But  has  Christianity  helped  to  break  the 
chains  of  the  slave  ?  Has  it  brought  light  to  the 
io-uorant  ?  Has  it  been  on  the  side  of  education  and 
progress  ?  Has  it  built  hospitals  for  the  blind,  the 
insane,  the  deaf  and  dumb  ?  If  we  wish  to  do  any 
good  to  our  fellow-men,  do  we  not  appeal  to  Christ's 
teachings  and  promises  ?  Then  Christianity  is  what 
we  need ;  and  let  us  not  hesitate,  but  go  in  and  find 
food  and  rest  and  comfort., 

AVe  do  not  believe  all  that  our  fathers  did  con- 
cerning Jesus  Christ.  He  may  no  longer  be  to  us 
the  mysterious  God-man,  infinite  and  finite  at  once, 
second  person  in  the  Trinity,  eternally  born  from 
the  Father.  These  statements  are  passing  away; 
they  live  no  longer  in  the  faith  of  reason.  Jesus  is 
now  the  Son  of  God  because  he  had  the  spirit  of  a 
son,  and  because  to  him  God  was  always  father. 
He  is  our  dear  human  brother,  our  best  teacher,  our 
noblest  friend,  who  lifts  oar  thoughts  from  earth  to 
heaven,  from  time  to  eternity.  We  liave  more  faith 
in  him,  not  less,  when  we  thus  believe,  for  w^e  see 
more  clearly  all  that  he  was  and  is.  Only  let  us 
not  stand  hesitating  in  regard  to  this  faith,  but 
believe  fully  and  earnestly  all  we  can.  Let  us  not 
stand  half  way  in  and  half  way  out  of  Christianity, 
but  gladly  enter  into  whatever  peace  and  strength 
the  gospel  can  give  to  us. 

And  so  in  regard  to  immortality  and  the  future 
life   our  belief  has   changed   from  that  of  former 


STANDING  IN  THE  DOORWAY.  215 

days.  We  do  not  now  suppose  the  future  world 
to  consist  of  a  heaven  of  perfect  bliss  on  one 
side  and  a  hell  of  infinite  torture  on  the  other.  We 
believe  in  progress  hereafter  as  here;  many  man- 
sions there  as  here,  maiiy  heavens  and  many  hells, 
and  an  infinite  variety  of  circumstances  and  condi- 
tions. Therefore,  we  need  not  believe  less  in  a 
future  life,  but  more,  because  it  is  now  seen  to  be 
rational  and  natural,  a  continuation  of  the  present, 
with  the  same  divine  laws  in  both.  Believing 
thus  in  immortality,  let  us  not  believe  hesitatingly, 
but  "with  all  our  mind  and  strength.  Let  us  dwell 
in  heavenly  places  ;  let  immortality  begin  now  ;  let 
us  have  eternal  life  abiding  in  us. 

Instead  of  hesitating  to  believe  any  truth  because 
we  cannot  believe  everything,  let  us  believe  all  we 
can  ;  see  all  we  can  ;  pass  through  the  door  into 
the  temple  of  knowledge  and  dwell  therein. 

Standing  in  the  doorway  of  action  without  going 
in  is  also  a  disease  and  danger.  To  be  practically 
undecided  weakens  the  character.  In  fact,  strength 
of  character  consists  largely  in  the  power  of  deci- 
sion. "  Be  sure  you  are  right,  and  then  go  ahead," 
was  the  saying  of  the  backwoodsman  of  Texas; 
and  in  this  he  agreed  with  the  Apostle  James,  who 
said,  "A  double-minded  man  is  unstable  in  all  his 
ways."  "  He  that  wavereth  is  like  a  wave  of  the 
sea,  driven  with  the  winds  and  tossed."  To  be 
able  to  decide,  and  then  put  forth  all  one's  powers 
without  further  hesitation,  —  this  makes  the  man  of 


216  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

action.  We  had  several  generals  in  our  war  who 
could  never  make  up  their  minds,  and  this  inde- 
cision cost  the  lives  of  many  brave  men. 

Indecision  in  morals  is  dangerous.  To  stand  in 
the  doorway  of  a  good  action  and  refuse  to  go  in 
injures  the  moral  character.  When  we  have  made 
up  our  mind  that  we  ought  to  do  anything,  to  hesi- 
tate about  doing  it  makes  us  worse.  Indecision  here 
is  immorality. 

Many  people  do  not  like  to  commit  themselves. 
But  to  commit  one's  self  to  what  is  right  is  to  take 
a  great  step  forward.  Then  right  doing  becomes 
easy,  which  before  was  difficult.  These  are  the 
steps  upward  in  life.  Many  people  refuse  to  join 
a  church,  or  to  join  a  tempsi-ance  society,  because 
they  do  not  like  to  promise  what  they  may  not  be 
able  to  perform.  But  to  commit  themselves  will 
often  help  them  to  perform  what  they  undertake  to 
do.  AVhen  we  unite  with  those  who  are  wishing 
to  do  good  things,  we  find  ourselves  in  a  current 
which  carries  us  forward  in  the  right  direction. 

I  know  very  well  that  we  may  be  sometimes 
entrapped  unwisely  by  such  pledges.  People  may 
be  persuaded  to  join  churches  where  they  do  not 
feel  at  home,  where  they  have  no  common  convic- 
tions, no  real  sympathy,  and  from  which  it  may 
take  them  a  long  time  to  become  free.  So  political 
conventions  sometimes  let  themselves  be  entrapped 
into  a  pledge  to  vote  for  the  nominee,  whoever  he 
may  be.     This  they  have  no  right  to  do.     He  may 


STANDING  IN  THE  DOORWAY.  217 

be  a  man  unfit  for  the  office.  They  have  no 
right  to  promise  beforehand  to  vote  for  him.  They 
thus  renounce  their  own  right  of  private  judgment 
and  freedom  of  conscience.  No  one  has  any  right 
to  abdicate  his  conscience  or  give  up  his  freedom  of 
opinion.  When  we  join  a  church  or  a  society  for 
any  moral  purpose,  it  should  be  distinctly  under- 
stood that  we  have  a  right  to  leave  it  again  if  our 
convictions  of  duty  change. 

But,  with  these  restrictions,  it  is  a  great  help 
to  commit  one's  self  to  what  one  considers  good 
and  right.  Suppose  Paul  had  hesitated  about  be- 
coming a  Christian  after  he  had  seen  the  celestial 
vision,  how  much  would  have  been  lost !  He  would 
have  remained  a  Pharisee,  but  a  doubting  Pharisee, 
having  lost  his  old  faith  and  not  having  found  a 
new  one.  But  he  committed  himself.  He  went 
forward  through  the  doorway  into  the  Church.  He 
became  a  disciple,  then  an  apostle  of  Christianity. 
He  became,  as  he  says,  "  A  new  creature ;  old 
things  are  passed  away,  all  things  are  become  new." 
Paul  might  have  said,  "  I  will  go  back  to  Jerusalem, 
I  will  think  about  it  a  while  longer.  The  time  has 
not  come  for  Christianity  to  succeed.  Let  us  tem- 
porize ;  let  us  wait  for  a  few  years,  and  the  San- 
hedrim will  come  round."  But  he  did  not  stand 
hesitating  in  the  doorway.  He  went  in,  and  com- 
mitted himself  eibsolutely  to  the  new  faith,  and  so 
became  a  new  creature,  the  great  apostle  of  a  world- 
wide and  universal  religion,  tlie  prophet  of  another 


218  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

religion  to  Europe,  the  founder  of  modern  civili- 
zation. Through  him,  Chris tianitj?"  dropped  its 
Jewish  dress  and  became  the  gospel  for  universal 
man. 

Suppose  Luther  had  hesitated.  He  might  easily 
have  done  so.  He  might  have  said,  "  The  hour  has 
not  come.  The  time  is  not  ripe  for  such  a  vast 
movement.  Let  us  wait  a  little  longer.  Let  us  try 
to  convert  the  wise  and  prudent  to  our  way  of 
thinking.  Consult  Erasmus  and  see  what  he 
says,"  But  no ;  Luther  said,  "  Here  I  am.  I  cannot 
do  otherwise.  God  help  me.  Amen!"  He  must 
speak  his  word,  whether  men  would  hear  or  for- 
bear. His  trumpet  gave  no  uncertain  sound.  He 
went  forward  alone  and  moved  the  whole  world. 

Suppose  Garrison  and  his  friends  had  hesitated, 
and  declined  to  preach  the  abolition  of  slavery. 
They  had  great  reason  to  delay.  They  had  against 
them  all  the  great  forces  of  society,  —  commerce, 
the  press,  the  two  great  political  parties,  all  social 
influences,  the  so-called  aristocracy  on  one  side,  and 
mobs  on  the  other.  Tliey  had  with  them  only  truth 
and  justice.  But  they  did  not  hesitate.  They 
did  not  stand  in  the  doorway,  but  went  forth,  not 
knowing  whither  they  went.  The  Lord  was  on 
their  side,  and  they  did  not  fear.  Human  nature 
was  on  their  side.  Answers  and  encouragement 
came  to  them  from  all  quarters,  and  at  last  they 
saw  the  triumph  of  their  cause,  and  could  sing  their 
song  of  thanksgiving  and  joy. 


STANDING  IN  THE  DOORWAY.  219 

In  every  man's  life  there  come  moments  when 
he  is  called  to  decide  whether  to  go  forward  or 
to  stand  still.  Timidity  says,  "  Hesitate  ! "  Pru- 
dence says,  "  Be  not  too  hasty.  Take  time ! " 
Self-interest  says,  "You  may  hurt  yourself;  you 
may  run  risks.  You  may  injure  your  prospects  of 
worldly  success."  But  conscience  says,  "  The  hour 
has  come.  Go  and  do  your  duty,"  and  everything 
generous  and  noble  in  the  heart  responds,  and 
says  amen  ! 

"  So  nigh  is  grandeur  to  our  dust, 
So  near  is  God  to  man, 
When  Duty  whispers  low,  '  Thou  must ! 
The  youth  replies,  '  I  can  ! ' " 

These  are  the  great  occasions,  which  come  once, 
often  not  again.  If  we  let  them  go  by  unimproved, 
they  are  lost.  These  are  the  times  which  try  men's 
souls. 

Let  us  remember  that  such  hesitations  not  only 
injure  ourselves,  but  injure  others.  We  do  not  go 
in  ourselves,  and  we  hinder  others  who  else  might 
enter.  Our  indecision  makes  others  undecided. 
When  people  see  that  we  hesitate  to  believe,  they 
think  themselves  wise  in  hesitating.  Doubt  be- 
comes a  fashion.  Weak-minded  persons  take  a 
certain  pride  in  not  believing  what  others  have 
believed.  They  deem  themselves  somewhat  more 
free  and  bold  in  their  thought.  When  the  leaders, 
who  should  go  forward,  stand  hesitating,  they  hesi- 
tate too.     The  common  people  naturally  love  what- 


220  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

ever  is  generous,  manly,  and  honest.  But  they 
hesitate  in  expressing  these  sentiments  because  the 
wise  and  prudent  refrain.  Thus,  when  those  who 
are  in  the  front  stand  still,  all  behind  them  have  to 
stand  still  too. 

It  is  curious  and  sad  to  see  how  many  people 
stand  in  the  doorway  of  religion,  afraid  to  enter  in. 
It  is  often  because  they  have  a  false  notion  of  what 
religion  is.  They  imagine  it  to  be  some  renunciation 
of  human  and  earthly  life ;  some  denial  not  only  of 
evil  pleasure,  but  also  of  innocent  pleasure ;  some  for- 
mal and  solemn  profession ;  something  unnatural. 

But  in  truth  what  does  religion  mean  but  the 
sense  of  a  heavenly  love,  making  all  life  full  of 
peace?  It  means  taking  God  for  our  Father  and 
Friend ;  seeing  him  in  the  beauty  of  nature,  in  the 
laws  of  creation,  in  the  events  of  life,  in  the  glad 
and  solemn  days,  in  sunshine  and  clouds,  a  perpet- 
ual providence.  It  means  seeking  to  do  his  will; 
walking  in  every  right  way  ;  doing  whatever  is  good 
and  just  and  pure ;  making  right,  and  not  wrong,  the 
end  of  life ; .  living  for  noble  ends  and  not  for  mean 
ones.  It  means,  as  our  New  England  poet  teaches 
us  :  — 

"  That  all  our  sorrow,  pain,  and  doubt 

A  great  compassion  clasps  about  ; 

And  law  and  goodness,  love  and  force, 

Are  wedded  fast  beyond  divorce. 

That  the  dear  Christ  dwells  not  afar, 
The  Lord  of  some  remoter  star, 


STANDING  IN  THE  DOORWAY.  221 

Listening,  at  times,  with  flattered  ear 
To  homage  wrung  from  sellish  fear  ; 
But  here,  amid  the  poor  and  blind, 
The  bound  and  suffering  of  our  kind, 
In  works  we  do,  in  prayers  we  ]jray, 
Life  of  our  life  —  he  lives  to-day." 


XV. 
FOUR    KINDS    OF    PIETY. 


XV. 

FOUR  KINDS  OF  PIETY. 


I  WISH  we  could  find  aiiotlieiMvord  tlian  "piety" 
to  express  cm-  love  to  God,  for  this  has  fallen 
into  some  disrepute  at  the  present  time,  and  to 
many  has  not  an  attractive  sound.     To  some  it  is 
associated  with  spiritual  pride,  hypocritical  profes- 
sion reli-ious  talk  which  is  not  borne  out  l.y  up- 
riaht  action.     To  others  piety  seems  a  good  thi.ig, 
but  almost  too   good   for  this   world, -good   for 
exceptional  persons,  for  born  saints  ;  proper  enough 
for  cleraymen,  but  hardly  to  be  demanded  of  men 
and  women  who  have  to  work  all  day  in  the  midst 
of  worldly  matters.     What  I  wish  to  show,  there- 
fore, is,  that  true  piety,  or  love  to  God  is  the  most 
lie   natural,  and  rational  action  of  the  human 
mind;  that  it  is  for  every  one  every  wheie,  that, 
t  necessary,  not  so  much  for  future  sab.ition  as  fo 
present  peace  and  for  successful  lives.     In  short,  i 
Tsomething  which  none  of  us  can  do  without,  and 
which  we  may  all  have. 


226  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

But  to  show  this  I  must  distinguish  between 
different  kinds  of  piety,  in  order  that  we  may  per- 
ceive the  difference  between  the  substance  and  the 
accidental  varying  forms. 

There  is  one  important  question,  however,  which 
comes  first,  which  needs  consideration.  Piety  is 
love  to  God.  But  how  can  love  be  a  duty  ?  Can 
we  ever  love  as  a  duty,  or  by  an  effort  of  the  will  ? 
Whatever  we  are  commanded  to  do  we  ought  to  be 
able  to  do  by  our  own  efforts,  for  the  limit  of  obli- 
gation is  power.  Anything  which  is  an  act  of  the 
will  may  be  done  in  obedience  to  a  command ;  but 
how  can  an  affection  be  commanded  ?  The  child 
does  not  love  bis  father,  mother,  brothers,  and  sis- 
ters because  it  is  a  duty,  but  because  he  is  made 
happy  by  their  intercourse. 

How  then  can  we  love  God  in  obedience  to  a 
command  ?  Especially  when  God  is  so  far  off,  an 
invisible  being,  dwelling  in  light  inaccessible,  infi- 
nitely removed  from  all  our  experience  ? 

I  answer,  frankly,  that  it  is  impossible.  N"o  human 
effort  can  create  love;  and  therefore  when  the  New 
Testament  makes  love  the  fulfilment  of  all  duty, 
and  says  that  without  love  no  duty  can  be  done  as 
it  ought  to  be,  it  does  not  and  cannot  mean  a  duty 
which  can  be  done  by  a  mere  effort  of  the  will. 

God,  when  he  asks  anything  of  us,  gives  us  the 
power  to  do  it.  When  he  asks  the  child  to  love  its 
parents,  he  makes  the  duty  easy  by  causing  them 
first  to  love  their  child.    Because  the  child  sees  love 


FOUR  KINDS  OF  PIETY.  227 

in  its  father's  and  mother's  face  from  the  heginnin^, 
it  easily  loves  them  in  return.  The  mother's  love 
for  her  infant  creates,  or  at  least  develops  and  brings 
out,  the  answering  affection  of  the  infant.  The 
mother's  loving  look  is  reflected  from  her  infant's 
face  as  in  a  mirror.  The  children  may  say  of  their 
parents,  "We  love  them  because  they  first  loved 
us."  And  the  apostle  of  love,  John,  tells  us  that 
piety  is  born  in  the  same  way,  —  "We  love  Ilim 
because  he  first  loved  us." 

We  can  therefore  only  love  God  by  seeing  in 
some  way  that  he  loves  us.  In  this  matter  we 
cannot  take  the  initiative.  We  cannot  love  God  in 
order  to  induce  him  to  love  us.  As  the  infant  looks 
up  into  its  mother's  face,  and  sees  her  tender,  happy 
smile,  so  we  must  see  God's  smile  descending  into 
our  hearts  from  his  inaccessible  throne.  We  can- 
not go  up  there  to  find  him  ;  but  be  sure  that,  if  he 
wishes  for  our  love,  he  will  come  down  to  us  and 
find  us.  What  we  have  to  do,  and  all  that  we  can 
do,  is  to  look  up  and  see  his  goodness,  open  our 
hearts  and  receive  his  love.  We  can  choose  to 
receive  it,  or  refuse.  We  can  put  ourselves  in  a 
receptive  attitude,  or  not.  When  God  commands 
us  to  love  him,  it  is  as  if  he  said,  "Behold  liow 
I  love  you." 

But  there  are  four  different  ways  by  wliich  we 
look,  four  different  methods  of  seeing  God's  love ; 
and  these  produce  the  four  different  forms  of  piety. 
There  may  be  more,  and  doubtless  are  more  tlian 


228  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

four ;  but  these  constitute  the  principal  varieties  of 
this  great  influence  and  this  vast  joy. 

1.  The  first  kind  of  piety  is  emotional  fiety,  or 
•piety  of  the  feelings.  There  are  two  varieties  of 
this,  the  sacramental  and  the  sympathetic.  Sacra- 
mental piety  is  born  of  faith  in  the  grace  of  God 
given  through  sacraments.  It  is  found  most  often 
in  the  great  sacramental  churches.  There  is  a  de- 
vout pleasure  derived  from  taking  part  in  the  cere- 
monies, the  festivals,  the  liturgies  and  anthems 
made  memorable  by  the  worship  of  a  thousand 
years.  There  is  a  sincere  comfort  and  peace  felt 
in  leaving  the  world  of  noise  and  traffic,  and  enter- 
ing into  the  solitudes  of  prayer  and  praise,  into 
that  house  of  God  which  seems  the  gate  of  heaven. 
How  many  great  and  good  souls,  saints  and  mar- 
tyrs, have  been  fed  by  these  ceremonies  and  lifted 
above  the  earth  by  their  solemn  influence !  The 
imagination  is  touched  by  the  grand  religious  ar- 
chitecture, the  imposing  ritual,  the  divine  music, 
and  the  vast  multitude  of  adoring  w^orshippers.  He 
who  cannot  feel  this  is  deficient  in  some  of  the 
human  sentiments. 

Another  form  of  this  kind  of  piety  is  the  sym- 
pathetic emotion  caught  from  crowds.  This  is 
awakened  in  revivals,  camp-meetings,  and  social 
religious  gatherings,  where  those  who  come  to  scoff 
often  remain  to  pray.  As  God  is  felt  to  be  near 
in  the  solemn  rites  and  awful  forms  of  the  sacra- 
mental churches,  so  he  is  also  felt  to  be  present  in 


FOUR  KINDS  OF  PIETY.  229 

the  contagious  fire  which  runs  tlirough  a  meeting 
of  warm-hearted  worshippers.  In  both  places  many 
feel,  for  the  first  time,  that  God  is  not  far  from  us, 
that  we  are  his  children,  and  are  made  to  realize 
a  father's  love.  They  learn  to  love  God  with  all 
their   heart. 

2.  The  Piety  of  Personal  Salvation.  There  is  a 
second  kind  of  piety  which  comes  from  a  sense 
of  pardoned  sin.  This  grace  of  God  which  brings 
salvation  has  had  great  power,  and  accomplished 
vast  results.  It  has  always  existed  side  by  side 
witli  sacramental  and  emotional  piety,  but  it  be- 
came most  conspicuous  as  the  great  motive  power 
of  the  Protestant  Eeformation.  AVhile  the  sacra- 
mental and  emotional  churches  —  the  Iioman  Cath- 
olics, Episcopalians,  and  Methodists  —  find  the 
presence  and  love  of  God  revealed  to  them  in  their 
public  and  social  worship,  the  Calvinistic  denomi- 
nations struggle  and  agonize  and  pray  alone,  and 
receive  a  sense  of  God's  pardoning  love  given  to 
each  soul  for  its  own  personal  salvation.  Through 
this  struggle  each  one  goes  by  himself;  he  is  alone 
with  his  conscience  and  his  God.  He  seeks  and 
finds  salvation  for  himself,  and  loves  God  with  an 
intense  gratitude  for  having  ransomed  and  redeemed 
him  from  sin  and  evil.  He  loves  God  with  all  liis 
soul,  for  that  is  what  God  lias  saved  from  despair 
and  death. 

3.  The  Piety  of  Reason.  There  is  a  third  kind 
of  piety,  —  one   in   which  men  love   God  with  all 


230  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

their  mind,  seeing  his  boundless  goodness  in  the 
mysteries  of  creation ;  feeling  that  from  him  and 
through  him  and  to  him  are  all  things..  This  is  the 
piety  which  inspires  the  sublime  song  of  Milton, 
the  universal  prayer  of  Pope,  the  solemn  litanies 
of  Wordsworth,  and  the  tender  strains  of  Whittier. 
These  poets  see  God  in  the  majesty  of  Nature,  in  the 
changing  year,  in  the  vast  laws  of  the  universe,  which 
are  from  everlasting  to  everlasting.    They  say :  — 

"  These,  as  they  change,  Almighty  Father,  these 
Are  but  the  varied  God.     The  rolling  year 
Is  full  of  thee." 

Swedenborg  was  one  who  loved  God  wdth  all 
his  mind,  who  lived  in  the  thought  of  God's  pres- 
ence in  all  things,  to  whom  Nature  and  life  were 
a  manifestation  of  God.  So,  too,  w^as  Spinoza,  the 
"  God-intoxicated  man,"  as  Schleiermacher  called 
him,  living  in  loneliness,  poverty,  obscurity,  but 
thinking  of  God  all  day  long.  So,  too,  among  the 
Greeks  was  Plato,  whose  vast  religious  influence 
has  been  felt  among  serious  thinkers  down  to  our 
times.  These  men  loved  God  with  their  mind, 
and  the  grace  of  God  came  to  them  through  their 
thoughts.  Science,  too,  in  our  day  is  growing 
deeply  religious.  It  occupies  itself  with  the  methods 
of  divine  creation,  with  questions  of  universal  law. 
Passing  from  the  observation  of  unrelated  facts, 
which  was  the  method  of  the  last  century,  it  ad- 
vances to  larger  speculations  as  to  the  w^hence  and 
how. 


FOUR  KINDS  OF  PIETY.  231 

We  have  seen  three  ways  by  wliich  the  grace  of 
God  comes,  creating  piety.  By  a  sense  of  a  divine 
presence  mediated  by  sacraments  and  churches, 
and  felt  in  the  sympathy  of  religious  meetings ;  by 
the  influence  of  the  heavenly  love  which  was  shown 
in  the  death  of  Jesus,  and  which  has  power  to 
purify  the  soul  from  evil ;  and  by  that  experimen- 
tal knowledge  of  God  which  results  from  religious 
thought  and  intellectual  inquiry.  Now,  we  ask.  Is 
there  any  other  way  by  whicli  we  can  enter  into  the 
love  of  God ;  by  which  practical  men,  immersed  in 
business,  yet  desirous  of  not  losing  the  religious  life, 
wishing  to  see  and  know  and  serve  God,  can  also 
enter  into  his  love?  There  are  great  numbers  of 
men  who  cannot,  or  at  least  do  not,  become  pious 
in  any  of  the  previous  ways.  They  do  not  enjoy 
rituals  or  take  delight  in  ceremonial  religion.  Nor 
do  they  believe  in  the  religion  of  sympathy  or 
get  any  good  from  revival  meetings.  They  are 
accustomed  to  stand  firm  on  their  feet,  and  are  not 
carried  away  by  excitement  or  emotion.  Nor  do 
they  enter  into  the  experiences  of  those  who  make 
Christianity  a  question  of  the  salvation  of  tlie  indi- 
vidual soul,  of  sin  and  pardon.  They  are  conscien- 
tious men,  who  have  always  meant  to  do  right. 
They  know,  to  be  sure,  that  they  have  done  wrong 
things,  but  they  are  sorry  for  them,  and  they  be- 
lieve that  God  will  forgive  them,  just  as  they  for- 
give any  one  who  has  injured  them  and  is  sorry 
for  it.     Nor    are   they  religious  thinkers,  spending 


232  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

their  time  in  meditation  on  God,  duty,  and  immor- 
tality. They  are  doing  the  worlv  of  the  world.  Is 
there  any  kind  of  piety  which  they  can  have,  or 
are  they  to  be  always  left,  as  they  have  been  usu- 
ally left,  to  work  without  the  inspiration  and  joy 
which  come  from  the  sense  of  God's  love  in  what 
they  do  ? 

4.  Fiety  from  Work.  I  answer  that  I  believe 
there  is  still  another  way  in  which  God's  love  is 
brought  to  man.  I  believe  that  work  also  can  be  a 
sacrament  by  which  the  divine  grace  may  be  medi- 
ated ;  that  love  may  descend  into  the  soul  by  means 
of  labor ;  that  duty  may  be  the  step  upward  into 
piety ;  that  we  may  be  led  by  God  while  engaged 
in  our  daily  work,  and  that  what  is  often  called 
mere  morality  may  be  the  natural  way  to  an  in- 
ward spiritual  life. 

Thus  may  the  grace  of  God  which  brings  salva- 
tion come  to  those  who  are  seeking  to  serve  their 
fellow-men.  Work  may  lead  us  into  prayer.  We 
may  learn  to  pray,  not  as  a  duty,  not  as  a  senti- 
ment, not  from  sympathy,  not  for  our  own  salva- 
tion, not  by  an  intellectual  piety,  but  because  we 
need  the  help  of  God  to  enable  us  to  fulfil  our 
duties  to  others. 

There  is  work  which  can  be  done,  perhaps,  with- 
out prayer,  —  mechanical  work,  routine  work,  which 
is  done  with  the  hands  alone.  But  whenever  an  oc- 
casion occurs  in  which  we  work  to  help  others,  but 
do  not  know  how ;  in  which  we  ouoht  to  do  some- 


FOUR  KINDS  OF  PIETY.  233 

thing  for  them,  but  are  unable  to  do  it  aright;  then 
we  may  throw  ourselves  on  the  help  of  God.  We 
may  say  to  God,  "  My  Father,  I  am  here,  ready  to 
do  anything  I  can  ;  show  me  how  to  do  it."  And 
by  some  sure  but  mysterious  law  the  way  is  opened, 
the  help  comes.  We  see  that  as  faith  leads  to  work, 
so  also  work  may  lead  to  faith. 

This  is  a  form  of  piety  which  is  to  be ;  a  Christ 
who  is  to  come.  It  is  piety  coming  from  work  as 
a  sacrament;  the  religious  form  of  duty.  And  I 
think  it  will  be  in  some  respects  higher  and 
stronger,  deeper  and  more  thorough,  than  the  senti- 
mental piety  of  the  church,  the  emotional  piety  of 
the  revival  meeting,  the  salvation  piety  of  the  Cal- 
vinist,  or  the  intellectual  piety  of  the  religious 
thinker.  It  will  be  loving  God  witli  all  our  strength. 
The  moment  we  undertake  any  really  Christian 
work  we  need  this  kind  of  piety.  Here,  for  in- 
stance, is  a  young  girl  who  takes  a  class  in  a  Sunday 
school.  She  desires  not  merely  to  hear  the  children 
repeat  lessons  from  the  Bible,  but  to  lead  them  to 
God.  She  wishes  to  impart  to  their  souls  some 
principle  by  which  they  can  be  kept  safe  amid  all 
the  trials  and  temptations  which  may  come.  How 
can  she  ever  do  such  a  great  work  ?  She  feels 
wholly  inadequate  to  the  task.  She  is  discouraged 
when  she  thinks  of  it.  Therefore  she  may  very 
likely  give  it  up,  and  say  she  is  not  fit  to  be  a 
teacher,  that  she  does  not  know  how,  that  she  is  not 
good  enough,  and  the  like.    But  suppose  she  believes 


234  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

that  whenever  we  wish  to  do  any  Christian  work, 
any  good  for  others,  some  power  will  come  to  us  if 
w^e  ask  it.  Then,  instead  of  giving  up  her  class  of 
children,  she  will  ask  of  God  before  each  meeting 
that  he  will  help  her  to  do  them  real  good ;  and  if 
she  finds  that  this  prayer  is  always  answered,  she 
will  go  on  with  increasing  courage  and  faith. 

Let  us  suppose  another  is  asked  to  be  a  visitor  to 
the  poor.  This,  also,  is  a  difficult  duty.  To  go  as 
a  friend,  not  as  a  patron ;  to  help,  and  not  to  harm  ; 
to  make  them  feel  that  you  are  a  brother  or  a  sister, 
not  an  official  visitor;  to  say  the  right  thing,  the 
wisest  thing,  to  put  a  new  spirit  of  faith,  hope, 
cheer,  confidence  into  their  hearts,  —  who  can  do  this 
by  any  power  of  his  own  ?  But  if  we  believe  that 
there  is  a  divine  law,  working  as  regularly  as  the 
laws  of  physics  and  chemistry,  by  which  a  prayer 
for  help  to  enable  us  to  do  good  will  give  us  power 
which  we  should  not  have  unless  we  prayed,  then 
we  can  go  to  any  task,  however  difficult,  with  cour- 
age and  faith. 

How  we  shrink  from  seeing  one  in  some  terrible 
distress,  —  some  one  on  whom  an  awful  calamity 
has  fallen !  We  say,  "  What  can  I  do  ?  I  can  do 
nothing."  But  if  we  believed  that  God  w^ould  cer- 
tainly give  us  power  to  say  the  right  word,  to  pour 
life  and  comfort  into  that  bruised  heart,  and  if  we 
asked  for  such  power,  we  should  go  instantly  and 
cheerfully,  because  we  should  go  relying  wholly  on 
him. 


FOUR  KINDS  OF  PIETY.  235 

Clergymen  are  often  called  to  the  dying  or  the 
bereaved.  Once  I  hesitated,  lest  I  should  not  find 
the  best  words  of  comfort.  Now  I  know  that  the 
right  thing  will  be  given.  At  such  times  we  may 
trust  in  the  Master's  promise,  "Take  no  thought 
what  to  say  or  speak,  for  it  shall  be  given  you 
in  that  hour  what  ye  ought  to  say." 

Jesus  says,  "  If  ye  ask  anything  in  my  name,  I 
will  do  it.  Ask  and  receive,  that  your  joy  may  be 
full."  Again  he  says  that  God  will  give  all  tilings 
when  we  ask  in  the  name  of  Christ.  Now,  to  "  ask 
in  the  name  of  Christ "  is  certainly  not  merely  to 
•use  the  word  "  Christ."  It  is  not  to  say,  "  We  ask 
it  through  Jesus  Christ."  It  is  to  ask  in  the  spirit 
of  Christ.  But  the  spirit  of  Christ  is  that  which 
does  good  to  others.  When  we  wish  to  do  good  to 
others,  we  are  in  the  spirit  of  Christ.  If  then  we 
pray  for  power  to  help  others,  we  are  praying  in 
the  name  of  Christ.  Then  we  may  ask  what  we 
need,  and  be  sure  that  it  will  be  given.  Some 
power,  some  faith,  some  love,  some  wisdom  will  come 
to  us,  to  enable  us  to  help  others. 

Thus  may  piety  be  born  of  duty,  and  work  be  a 
sacrament,  helping  us  to  come  into  the  love  of  God. 
All  the  other  methods  of  piety  are  good,  but  perhaps 
this  may  be  the  best  of  all.  The  piety  is  good 
which  comes  to  the  human  soul  through  churches 
and'  worship ;  through  sympathy  and  communion ; 
through  the  sense  of  sin  and  the  sense  of  forgive- 
ness;   through   intellectual   aspiration  scaling  the 


236  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

heights  of  universal  law.  But  possibly  the  best  of 
all  may  be  the  faith  born  of  work,  the  piety  which 
comes  through  duty,  the  prayer  which  is  made  for 
power  to  help  our  fellow-men. 

Piety  which  is  born  out  of  morality  will  have 
this  advantage.  It  will  be  nearer  than  any  other 
to  prayer  without  ceasing.  As  these  Cln-istian 
duties  meet  us,  not  on  Sunday  only,  but  all  through 
the  week,  this  will  be  a  piety  for  all  the  working 
hours  of  life.  As  we  see  the  results  of  this  prayer, 
our  faith  will  continually  grow  stronger. 

This  prayer  will  bring  us  near  to  Christ  as  well 
as  to  God,  for  it  will  be  the  result  of  work  done  for 
Christ  as  well  as  for  God.  It  will  be  natural,  ra- 
tional, and  practical.  We  sliall  pray  just  as  we 
work,  because  there  is  soraethinsf  to  be  done  which 
cannot  be  done  well  without  prayer.  This  piety 
will  be  for  men  as  well  as  for  women,  and  we  shall 
no  more  hear  it  said  that  religion  is  excellent  for 
one  half  of  the  human  race  and  not  for  the  other. 
The  prayer  of  action  will  balance  and  fulfil  the 
prayer  of  sentiment.  It  will  be  more  universal 
than  any  other,  for  all  persons  are  called  to  do 
Christian  work,  but  not  all  men  are  sacramentally 
inclined ;  not  all  are  able  to  believe  in  the  atone- 
ment ;  not  all  are  disposed  to  sympathetic  religion ; 
not  all  are  made  for  philosophical  piety. 

Finally,  this  piety  which  comes  from  daily  Chris- 
tian work  will  tend  to  develop  the  highest  form  of 
Christian  character.     For  it  makes  religion  not  a 


FOUR  KINDS   OF  PIETY.  237 

separate  part  of  life,  but  an  inspiration  of  the  avIioIo  ; 
not  a  sentimental  feeling  appropriate  to  Sundays 
and  clmrclies,  but  a  vitalizing  power  creating  love, 
thought,  and  action  all  the  time.  It  gives  a  well- 
rounded  character,  in  which  action  and  love,  mo- 
rality and  piety,  works  and  faith,  are  harmonized 
and  made  one.  It  makes  the  natural  life  also  super- 
natural ;  it  brings  down  heaven  to  earth  and  lifts 
earth  to  heaven. 

Some  men  do  not  incline  to  sentimental  piety, 
nor  to  sacramental  piety,  nor  to  the  piety  of  creeds, 
excitement,  and  revivals.  They  do  not  easily  accept 
the  piety  of  atonement  and  expiation,  which  loves 
God  because  of  one's  personal  salvation  from  death 
and  destruction.  They  have  not  much  taste  for 
]Dhilosophical  or  mystical  piety.  But  they  are 
well  fitted  for  the  piety  w^hich  is  born  out  of 
daily  duty ;  for  the  prayer  uttered  when  occasion 
arises,  and  not  as  a  form  or  ceremony.  They  are 
constituted  for  this  kind  of  religion,  and  I  hope 
that  through  them  may  come  another  sight  of  di- 
vine love  acting  through  steadfast  law,  —  that 
influx  of  life  which  comes  into  every  soul  that 
seeks  strength  for  it.  This  will  be  an  influence 
from  God  to  revolutionize  the  world.  Then  will 
the  love  of  God  and  the  love  of  man  be  seen  to  be 
one,  and  the  w^hole  Christian  life  be  formulated  in 
four  blessed  words,  —  from  God,  for  man  ! 

No  doubt  all  these  forms  of  piety  are  meant  to 
be  united.     The  time  will  come  in  which  we  shall 


238  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION, 

meet  God  in  the  churcli  and  also  in  the  street ;  in 
the  communion  of  saints  and  in  the  loneliness  of 
the  agony  of  the  Garden ;  in  the  depths  of  spir- 
itual thought,  and  the  daily  life  of  duty.  All  will 
be  steps  of  Jacob's  ladder  ■  leading  up  to  heaven,  on 
which  the  angels  of  God  will  go  up  to  carry  prayers 
and  come  down  to  bring  blessings. 


XVI. 

WHAT  WE  POSSESS  AND  WHAT 
WE  OWN. 


XVI. 

WHAT   WE  POSSESS  AND  WHAT  WE 
OWN. 


T 


''If  you  have  not  been  faithful  in  that  ivhich  is  an- 
other's, luho  will  give  you  that  tchich  is  your  own?" 

'HE  doctrine  of  the  New  Testament  is,  that  man 
is  a  steward,  not  an  owner,  of  his  possessions. 
His  powers,  faculties,  opportunities,  time,  wealth, 
are  talents  confided  to  him,  for  which  he  is  to  give 
an  account.  The  joys  of  this  life  do  not  belong  to 
us ;  we  are  never  sure  of  them.  God  may  resume 
them  at  any  moment.  We  possess  them,  but  do 
not  own  them. 

By  "being  faithful  in  that  which  is  another's"  is, 
therefore,  pkinly  meant  "  being  faithful  as  stewards 
of  what  God  lends  us."  But  what,  then,  is  meant 
by  the  last  clause  of  the  text,  ''  Who  shall  give  you 
that  which  is  your  own  ? "  If  we  are  only  stewards 
of  our  possessions,  do  we  own  anything  ?  ^^  hat  is 
meant  by  "  that  which  is  our  own  "  ? 

I  answer  that  what  we  possess  is  outside  of  our- 
selves, and  not  necessarily  ours ;  what  we  own  is 

16 


242  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

within,  a  part  of  the  soul,  and  is  ours.  What  we 
possess  is,  in  its  very  nature,  transient ;  what  we 
own  is,  in  its  very  nature,  permanent.  We  possess 
our  bodily  health,  but  we  do  not  own  it ;  for  it  may 
leave  us  at  any  moment.  We  possess  wealth,  but 
do  not  own  it ;  for  it  may  take  wings  and  fiy  away. 
We  possess  time,  we  do  not  own  it ;  for  it  passes 
away  from  us  in  a  steady  current.  We  possess 
fame,  power,  influence ;  and  these  also  may  be  taken 
from  us  suddenly  and  entirely.  But  we  own  our 
convictions,  rooted  in  personal  knowledge ;  we  own 
our  character,  formed  by  faithful  struggle,  self-de- 
nial, loyalty  to  right,  obedience  to  God.  We  own 
the  faith  which  resists  all  doubts  and  all  trials ;  the 
hope  which  grows  more  vigorous  as  the  body  dies ; 
the  love  which  unites  us  permanently  to  God  and 
man.  Talents  God  lends  us  for  a  time ;  but  these 
are  gifts  which  he  bestows  •  and  gives  forever. 
And  they  are  sent  as  the  result  of  our  fidelity. 
Such  is,  I  think,  the  meaning  of  the  motto  quoted 
above.  X 

This  becomes  more  clear  if  w^e  consider  the  pas- 
sage whicli  precedes  it,  of  which  this  statement  is 
the  conclusion  and  moral.  Jesus  had  been  telling 
his  disciples  the  story  of  the  unjust  steward.  The 
steward  had  neglected  his  master's  interest,  and 
wasted  his  property  ;  had  been  detected,  and  was 
to  be  removed  from  his  office.  So  he  determined  to 
make  use  of  his  power  while  he  Imd  it,  to  procure 
himself  advantages  after  he  should  have  lost  it. 


WHAT   WE  POSSESS  AND  WHAT  WE  OWX.    243 

He  allowed  his  master's  debtors  to  cut  down  the 
amount  of  their  debts  fifty  per  cent  in  some  cases, 
twenty  per  cent  in  others,  with  the  understanding 
that  they  would  repay  liini  for  this  afterward,  sliar- 
ing  with  him  the  amount  of  wliich  they  liad  cheated 
his  master.  There  is  nothing  strange  in  this  part  of 
the  transaction.  It  has  a  remarkably  modern  air. 
It  was  one  of  those  operations  by  wliich  officials 
have  cheated  tlieir  governments  in  all  time.  It 
seems  from  the  parable  that  tliis  trick  was  under- 
stood in  the  first  century  as  well  as  in  tlie  nine- 
teenth. We  knov\^  that,  of  the  taxes  levied  by  tlie 
ancient  Eomans  in  the  provinces,  only  a  small  part 
ever  found  its  way  into  the  treasury ;  the  rest  was 
stolen  by  the  tax-gatherers  and  the  prcetor.  So  it 
is  in  India,  so  in  Eussia,  to-day.  The  same  trick 
was  practised  in  New  York  by  Tweed  and  his  com- 
panions, who  allowed  the  contractors  for  the  city  to 
send  in  enormous  bills,  a  large  part  of  which,  when 
paid,  they  took  themselves.  The  same  plan  is  pur- 
sued by  the  lobby  to  Congress  and  to  State  Legisla- 
tures, paying  with  stock  those  who  will  vote  for 
their  enterprises. 

But  why  should  the  master  who  had  been  plun- 
dered commend  the  steward  who  robbed  him  ? 
This  is  a  more  difficult  question ;  yet  he  may  have 
commended  prudence,  wliile  he  condemned  the 
fraud.  Prudence,  which  uses  present  op[)ortunities 
to  secure  future  good,  is  riglit.  The  prudence  was 
right,  the  knavery  was  wrong.     And  the  point  of 


244  E VERY-DAY  BELT GI ON. 

the  parable  is,  that  we  ought  to  put  as  much 
prudence,  ingenuity,  and  cleverness  into  doing  right 
as  rogues  use  in  doing  wrong. 

It  has  often  been  the  case  that  while  knaves  have 
been  ingenious,  adroit,  and  skilful  in  their  rascality, 
good  people  have  gone  in  a  blind  and  helpless  way 
about  their  good  works.  It  is  a  sort  of  proverb  that 
religious  people  are  easily  imposed  upon,  that  they 
have  little  knowledge  of  tlie  world  or  of  human  na- 
ture. If  their  purpose  is  riglit,  they  are  contented. 
They  are  very  apt  to  adopt  this  want  of  judgment 
as  a  rule,  and  to  say,  "  Do  right,  and  leave  the  re- 
sult to  God."  But  since  the  Lord  has  given  brains 
to  good  people  as  well  as  to  bad  people,  why  not 
use  them  ?  Once  in  a  great  while  we  find  a  man, 
like  Dr.  Franklin,  who  is  as  adroit  in  doing  right, 
as  sagacious  in  doing  good,  as  knaves  are  in  doing 
wrong.  He  discovered  ingenious  ways  of  help- 
ing those  who  were  in  need.  Charitable  people 
often  give  in  a  way  to  create  more  suffering  than 
they  relieve.  Philanthropists  go  blindly  on  their 
Avay ;  patriots  rush  forward,  inconsiderate  of  obsta- 
cles ;  religious  people  have  a  zeal  for  God,  without 
knowledge.  But  Jesus,  by  many  methods,  taught 
his  disciples  that  they  ought  not  only  to  be  as  harm- 
less as  doves,  but  also  as  wise  as  serpents.  With 
the  devotion  of  martyrs,  ready  to  die  for  their  cause, 
they  must  join  the  utmost  caution  and  good  sense  in 
working  for  it.  They  must,  before  attempting  any 
work,  count  the  cost,  to  see  if  they  should  be  able  to 


WHAT  WE  POSSESS  AND  WHAT  WE  OWX.     245 

finish  it.  It  is  not  enough  to  mean  to  do  good ;  we 
must  do  it.  Conscience,  which  only  wislies  to  save 
its  own  soul,  may  say,  "  I  will  do  right,  and  leave 
the  result  to  God  ;  "  but  love,  which  desires  to  lielp 
its  neighbor  effectually,  puts  mind,  as  well  as  heart, 
into  its  work.  It  acts  like  the  good  Samaritan, 
who  did  not  merely  bind  up  the  poor  man's 
wounds,  and  then  leave  him  ;  but  put  him  on  his  own 
beast,  carried  him  to  the  inn,  took  care  of  him  there, 
and,  when  he  went  away,  made  arrangements  to 
have  him  provided  for  as  long  as  he  needed  further 
help.  We  do  not  want  a  blind,  fanatical  philan- 
thropy, but  a  sagacious  philanthropy  and  a  sagacious 
patriotism,  which  keeps  to  its  end,  but  carefully 
considers  the  means. 

I  have  heard  prudence  called  "  a  rascally  virtue." 
Jesus  did  not  so  regard  it.  And  I  think  that  when 
he  meant  to  inculcate  prudence  he  chose  a  bad  wise 
man  for-*an  example  and  not  a  good  wise  man,  that 
we  might  see  that  it  was  simply  the  wisdom  that  he 
was  commending  ;  that  prudence  in  itself  was  a  good 
thing.  In  point  of  fact,  folly  joined  with  conscience 
often  does  more  harm  than  sagacity  united  with 
sefishness.  What  an  amount  of  harm  has  been  done 
by  well-meaning  persons  who  did  not  stop  to  con- 
sider;  by  blind  zealots,  doing  wrong  with  the 
best  intentions ;  blind  bigots,  meaning  to  serve 
God  by  persecuting  their  neighbor ;  inquisitors,  con- 
scientiously cruel,  paving  hell  with  good  intentions. 
Alas  !  it  is  still  true,  as  it  was  when  Jesus  said  it, 


246  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

"  that  the  children  of  this  world  are,  in  their  gener- 
ation, wiser  than  the  children  of  light."  If  Herod 
and  Pilate  wish  to  crucify  Jesus,  they  make  up 
their  quarrels,  and  join  forces.  But  if  Christians 
wish  to  put  down  the  sins  of  Boston,  then,  instead 
of  joining  forces,  they  divide  into  numerous  sects 
and  spend  a  large  part  of  their  time  in  attacking 
each  other. 

Jesus  illustrates  this  principle  by  showing  what 
a  mistake  is  made  by  many  persons  in  the  nse  of 
money  ;  how  they  are  cheated  by  it,  and  do  not 
get  the  real  good  out  of  it  that  they  might.  This  is 
something  we  possess,  but  do  not  own  ;  but  it  may 
be  used  so  as  to  give  us  something  which  we  shall 
retain  always.  The  widow  who  put  her  two  mites 
into  the  treasury  changed  them  into  an  everlasting 
possession,  —  self-content,  peace  of  mind,  conscious- 
ness of  doing  right.  A  person  who  sacrifices  some 
pleasure  he  would  enjoy,  in  order  to  give  •pleasure 
to  another,  changes  a  transient  oratification  into  a 
permanent  power  of  character.  A  man  who  is  faith- 
ful, upright,  perfectly  honest  in  his  business  wliere 
custom  might  allow  him  not  to  be  so,  where  few 
would  thinlv  worse  of  liim  for  not  being  so  strict,  — 
he  also  gives  up  a  transient  gain  for  a  permanent 
habit  of  soul.  This  is  what  Jesus  means  by  saying, 
"  ]\Iake  yourselves  friends  of  the  unrighteous  Mam- 
mon, so  that  when  ye  fail  they  may  receive  you  into 
everlasting  habitations."  *'  Mannnon  of  unrighteous- 
ness" means  here  "deceitful  riches;"  that  which 


WHAT  WE  POSSESS  AND  WHAT  WE  OWN.     247 

seems  to  be  what  it  is  not,  professes  to  do  more  for 
us  than  it  can. 

If  we  are  faithful  in  that  which  is  anotlier's,  God 
will  give  us  that  which  is  our  own.  Fidelity  in 
transient  insignificant  work  leaves  a  heavenly  savor 
in  the  souL  Fidelity  is  the  root  out  of  whicli 
good  and  great  things  grow.  It  does  not  seem  much. 
We  are  only  asked  to  be  true  to  our  engagements,  to 
stand  fast  to  our  professions,  to  keep  our  word ;  then 
we  are  trustworthy.  That  is  what  all  can  do,  but 
how  few  do  it !  What  want  of  fidelity  in  common 
work  ;  how  few  men  do  their  day  labor  as  though 
God  saw  them  !  How  many  can  be  trusted  in  trade 
not  to  take  small  advantages  of  the  ignorance  of 
the  purchaser?  Here  is  where  fidelity  conies  in. 
When  we  find  a  man  who  is  faithful  in  these 
small  things,  we  find  one  who  is  fit  to  be  ruler 
over  many  things.  This  makes  the  sterling  char- 
acter, the  honorable  citizen,  the  one  on  whom  men 
depend  and  know  that  tlieir  trust  will  never  be 
betrayed.  These  men  are  the  salt  of  the  earth, 
without  wdiom  society  would  soon  become  corrupt 
and  dissolve. 

Business  life,  whicli  is  full  of  temptation  to  in- 
sincerity, has  sometimes  an  opposite  influence.  It 
often  educates  men  to  fidelity.  If  the  great  major- 
ity of  men  did  not  usually  keep  their  engagements, 
business  could  not  be  carried  on.  There  is  a  code 
of  business  honor  which  to  many  educates  to 
truth  in  other  things.     To  such  men,  business  is  a 


248  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

religious  education.  When  I  travelled  in  Italy,  I 
found  that  the  common  people,  though  they  would 
take  every  advantage  of  one  in  a  bargain,  yet,  the 
agreement  being  once  made,  would  keep  to  it  loy- 
ally. I  have  heard  the  same  thing  of  the  Arabs. 
The  idea  of  fidelity  to  one's  engagements  is  often 
found  where  we  least  expect  it.  It  is  a  sort  of 
sheet-anchor  holding  the  soul  to  truth  amid  the 
wreck  of  many  virtues. 

Fidelity  in  seeking  for  the  truth,  honesty  in 
uttering  it,  leads  to  knowledge.  The  power  of  seek- 
ing for  truth  is  what  we  possess,  but  when  it  gives 
us  knowledge,  that  is  something  which  we  own. 
Life  is  not  meant  to  be  a  perpetual  seeking  and 
never  finding.  We  come  at  last,  by  faithfulness 
to  the  truth,  to  know  God,  duty,  and  immortality. 
There  are  some  convictions  which  go  down  so  deep 
into  the  human  heart  that  they  remain  and  cannot 
pass  away. 

We  begin  b}^  believing  in  God,  but  we  come  at  last 
to  know  God.  That  belief  in  God  which  only  rests 
on  what  we  have  heard  and  been  told,  or  on  specu- 
lation and  argument,  is  liable  to  be  disturbed  and 
changed.  We  possess  it,  but  do  not  own  it.  But 
if  we  are  faithful  to  that  belief,  and  live  by  it,  it 
will  grow  at  last  into  knowledge.  If  we  live  as  we 
believe,  we  at  last  know. 

Jesus  said,  "  Whosoever  will  do  the  will  of  God, 
shall  know  of  the  doctrine."  We  grow  up  by  fidel- 
ity into  knowledge.     We  do  not  acquire  knowledge 


WHAT  WE  POSSESS  AND  WHAT  WE  OWN.     249 

by  thinking,  but  by  living ;  and  if  we  use  well  the 
little  knowledge  we  have,  we  receive  more. 

Consider  the  case  of  Laura  Bridgman,  a  child 
blind,  deaf,  and  dumb  ;  shut  out  from  the  world 
by  having  all  the  usual  avenues  of  thought  closed. 
One  only  sense  remained,  that  of  touch.  But  by 
the  genius  and  fidelity  of  her  teacher  this  one  sense 
became  a  broad  highway  through  which  light  came 
to  her  soul,  by  which  love  entered  in  and  went 
out,  by  which  she  found  friends,  amusement,  joy, 
work,  thought.  By  this  one  sense  of  touch  she 
came  to  the°knowledge  of  God,  to  faith  in  him  and 
in  Christ,  to  a  hope  of  an  innnortal  heaven,  where 
she  will  have  her  eyes  and  ears  opened,  and  be  ad- 
mitted into  a  full  vision  of  God's  world. 

Meantime,  how  many  of  us  there  are,  to  whom 
God  has  lent  eyes  and  ears  and  tongue,  who  have 
not  used  them  so  as  to  get  any  real  knowledge  of 
him.  We  have  eyes,  and  look  on  the  glories  of  the 
world,  on  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  Nature,  and 
do  not  see  God  in  it.  We  have  ears,  and  hear  the 
music  of  the  universe,  and  remain  insensible  to  it. 
God  speaks  to  us  each  day  by  the  voices  of  affection, 
and  our  hearts  remain  cold  and  dead.  Meantime, 
this  poor  woman,  shut  in  the  inner  prison  of  a 
world  perfectly  silent  and  wholly  dark,  has  come  to 
see,  and  hear,  and  know  the  best  truths  that  can 
be  known. 

It  is  not  so  much  opportunity  as  fidelity  which 
conducts  to  the  greatest  results.     The  ships  with 


250  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

which  the  Northmen  discovered  Iceland,  Greenland, 
and  the  coast  of  Massachusetts  were  not  much 
larger  than  our  pilot  boats.  The  apparatus  with 
which  Faraday  made  his  discoveries  was  of  the 
simplest  sort.  Ferguson  became  a  great  astron- 
omer by  lying  on  his  back  in  the  sheep-pastures, 
measuring  the  distances  of  the  stars  with  beads 
strung  on  a  thread.  Thus  fidelity  in  a  little  leads 
to  knowledge  of  much. 

This  year  hundreds  and  perhaps  thousands  of 
people  will  go  to  Europe,  to  Colorado,  to  Califor- 
nia. They  will  see  mountains,  cathedrals,  works 
of  art,  ruins  ;  but  whether  they  gain  any  knowl- 
edge out  of  what  they  see  will  depend  not  only  on 
their  opportunity,  but  also  on  their  fidelity.  They 
may  see  all  these  things  as  we  see  things  in  our 
dreams,  and  bring  away  nothing.  Meantime,  the 
person  who  loves  truth  and  Nature  will  go  out  into 
tlie  fields  close  to  his  house,  and  there  find  wonders 
and  beauties  sufficient  for  the  study  of  a  lifetime. 
Every  little  brook  which  creeps  through  the  meadow 
is  full  of  wonders  of  life.  Every  cloud  that  drifts 
past,  has  lights  and  shadows  more  tender  than  any 
artist  can  copy.  Every  sunrise  in  New  England  is 
more  full  of  wonder  than  the  pyramids,  —  every 
sunset  more  magnificent  than  the  Transfiguration. 
Why  go  to  see  the  Bay  of  Naples,  when  we  have 
not  yet  seen  Boston  harbor  ?  Why  go  to  the  Paris 
Exposition,  when  we  have  close  to  us  manufacto- 
ries of  all  kinds,  with  the  most  curious  machinery  ? 


WHAT  WE  POSSESS  AND  WHAT  WE  OWN.    251 

If  you  wish  to  see  one  of  the  greatest  wonders  of 
modern  times,  go  some  night  into  the  cellar  under 
one  of  our  newspaper  offices,  and  observe  the  half- 
reasoning  printing-press  throwing  off  its  tens  of 
thousands  of  copies  of  the  journal  which  is  to  be 
laid  on  your  breakfast-table  in  the  morning.  He 
who  faithfully  notices  what  is  close  at  hand  is  the 
man  who  gains  knowledge,  and  not  he  who  looks 
for  it  on  the  other  side  of  the  world. 

As  witli  knowledge,  so  with  love.  The  simple, 
natural  affections  are  the  steps  by  whicli  w^e  ascend 
to  the  largest  love.  Kindness  in  little  things,  a 
pleasant  word  when  we  can  say  it,  a  good-natured  act 
when  we  can  do  it,  —  these  are  conditions  by  which 
we  reach  large  generosities.  These  little  opportu- 
nities come  and  go  every  day ;  we  possess  them,  but 
cannot  keep  them.  But  they  may  be  used  so  as  to 
leave  behind  what  shall  be  always  ours,  —  a  habit 
of  kindness,  a  temper  of  good-will,  a  disposition  to 
see  and  say  the  best  we  can  of  human  kind. 

The  greatest  soul  and  the  largest  heart  that  ever 
lived  on  earth  had  for  friends  some  of  the  simplest 
men  and  women.  How  he  loved  those  disciples, 
and  loved  them  to  the  end,  educating  them  by  slow 
degrees  to  comprehend  a  little  of  his  thoughts, 
hopes,  and  purposes !  Yet  wdiat  a  gulf  remained 
between  his  mind  and  theirs  !  He  could  not  make 
them  understand  the  spiritual  nature  of  his  king- 
dom, the  probability  of  his  death,  the  rising  from 
the  dead  into  a  hidier  life.    But  still  he  loved  them. 


252  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

—  the  unstable,  impetuous  Peter,  the  sceptical 
Thomas,  the  fiery -hearted  John;  Martha,  Mary, 
Lazarus,  Mary  Magdalene.  He  loved  these  un- 
developed minds ;  for  his  greatness  enabled  him 
to  perceive  in  them  the  capacity  which  no  others 
could  discover,  of  becoming  at  last  his  apostles, 
missionaries,  and  martyrs.  The  wisdom  of  this 
world  would  have  said  that  those  ignorant  fisher- 
men were  the  last  persons  to  establish  a  religion 
for  the  civilized  world.  But  he  found  in  their 
present  fidelity  a  guarantee  of  their  future  power. 
Tliey  were  faithful  in  a  few  things,  and  could  be- 
come rulers  over  many  things. 

And  what  he  beheld  in  them,  God  sees  in  us. 
We,  also,  are  weak,  ignorant,  full  of  errors,  faults, 
and  sins.  We  have  faults  of  temper,  faults  of  char- 
acter; we  are  careless,  or  selfish,  or  forgetful  of  our 
duties.  But  if  we  are  trying  to  be  faithful,  if  we 
are  beginning  to  do  what  is  right,  God  finds  in  that 
small  beginning  a  power  which  his  grace  will  help 
to  unfold  into  perfect  truth  and  love.  If  we  are 
faithful  in  that  which  is  another's,  he  will  give  us 
that  which  is  our  own. 

It  has  been  usual  for  preachers  to  speak  of  the 
temporal  things  which  pass  away  as  though  they 
were  therefore  worthless.  But  they  are  of  infinite 
worth  if  they  are  the  means  of  reaching  that  which 
shall  abide.  If  we  can  change  time  into  eternity, 
wealth  into  generosity,  thought  into  knowledge,  op- 
portunities which    are  soon    gone  into  faith,  hope, 


WHAT  WE  POSSESS  AND  WHAT  WE  OWN.     253 

and  love  which  abide,  then  riches,  talents,  and  all 
outward  visible  things  have  a  divine  value.  That 
which  can  become  an  infinite  good  is  itself  almost 
an  infinite  good.  We  will  not,  then,  despise  these 
things  which  God  lends  us  because  they  are  not  yet 
our  own.  We  will  bless  Him  for  the  tranquil  joys 
of  every  day,  the  simple  affections  of  time,  the  com- 
mon e very-day  work  of  life,  the  springs  and  sum- 
mers which  come  and  go,  the  talents  we  have  and 
use,  tlie  business  we  transact,  for  all  are  parts  of 
that  Jacob's  ladder  which  reaches  from  earth  to 
heaven. 

Oh,  my  heart,  learn  to  love  God  through  his 
works  !  Love  the  infinite  truth  and  perfect  beauty 
in  the  universe  and  in  human  lives,  through  the 
finite  duties  of  each  passing  hour.  Love  all  that  is 
good  here,  and  so  love  the  infinite  goodness  here 
and  beyond.  Look  away  from  darkness  to  light. 
Seek  the  best  things  in  all  God's  children,  by  what- 
ever name  they  may  be  called.  Eespect  and  love 
goodness,  wherever  it  may  be,  and  believe  that  all 
the  goodness  in  thyself  and  in  others  must  come 
down  from  the  Supreme  Goodness  and  lead  back 
to  Him.  Turn  away,  0  my  soul,  from  all  things 
false,  base,  and  mean ;  rise  and  look  up  to  tlie  pure 
and  perfect  heaven  of  truth,  which  hangs  its  deep 
canopy  of  blue  above  us,  unsoiled  by  the  passing 
cloud  ;  the  home  of  the  eternal  stars  ;  the  highway 
of  the  majestic  sun  ;  the  emblem  of  a  divine  purity 
and  an  illimitable  peace. 


XVII. 
WHAT  WILL  xMAKE  US  GENEROUS? 


XYII. 
WHAT   WILL   MAKE   US   GENEROUS? 


I  THINK  I  may  assume  that  we  all  wish  to  be 
generous,  for  certainly  no  one  would  willingly 
be  selfish.  If  I  had  treated  of  some  other  form  of 
disinterested  love  ;  if,  for  example,  I  had  selected 
for  my  topic,  "  How  can  we  make  ourselves  pious  ?  " 
or  "  How  can  we  make  ourselves  philanthropic  ? " 
the  case  would  be  different.  I  could  not  assume 
that  we  all  desire  to  be  pious,  for  piety  has  been 
connected  in  many  minds  with  disagreeable  asso- 
ciations. That  which  is  called  piety  is  sometimes 
gloomy  and  morose  ;  sometimes  narrow,  bigoted, 
sectarian,  and  intolerant ;  sometimes,  alas !  it  is 
found  in  company  with  sharp  bargains  in  business 
and  mean  habits  of  life.  This,  of  course,  is  not  real 
piety,  for  that  is  simply  love  to  God  and  man,  and 
cannot  be  gloomy,  narrow,  or  mean.  But  since 
professional  piety  is  sometimes  associated  in  our 
minds  witli  these  poor  qualities,  I  will  not  use  this 
word  here,  but  take  one  unsoiled  by  such  associa- 
tions. Besides,  there  are  no  pious  people  in  Scrip- 
17 


258  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

ture.  Pious  is  not  a  Bible  word.  Tlie  Bible  says 
"godly"  and  "boly,"  not  "pious."  And  the  only 
place  where  the  noun  "piety"  appears,  is  where 
the  Apostle  says  that  widows  had  best  show  their 
piety  at  home  in  their  own  family.  "  Philanthropy  " 
also  is  a  word  which  has  been  a  little  discredited  ; 
many  people  thinking  of  a  kind  of  professional  phi- 
lanthropy which  is  not  exactly  loving  and  lovely, 
but  mechanical  But  no  one,  I  think,  has  any  dis- 
agreeable associations  with  the  word  "  generosity ; " 
therefore  I  take  that  as  my  theme. 

What  is  generosity  ?  It  is  not  merely  giving 
to  others  what  we  possess.  A  person  who  gives 
only  five  cents  may  be  generous  in  his  bounty ;  one 
who  bestows  five  thousand  dollars  may  not  be 
so.  When  Mr.  Bates  presented  his  first  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars  for  our  public  library,  he  did  a  noble 
action,  a  wise  action,  and  one  which  has  resulted 
in  a  vast  deal  of  good  ;  but  we  cannot  with  strict 
accuracy  apply  the  term  "  generous "  to  it,  for  it 
cost  him  no  self-denial,  and  he  had  money  enough 
left.  A  man  may  be  very  liberal  without  being 
very  generous.  I  do  not  wish  to  disparage  such 
liberality,  for  it  is  not  a  very  common  virtue.  I 
wish  we  had  more  of  it.  I  wish  we  had  more  men 
and  women  willing  so  to  use  their  wealth,  and 
thus  procure  the  greatest  amount  of  good  out  of 
it  every  day  for  themselves  and  others  ;  to  build 
for  themselves  a  memorial  in  human  lives  benefited 
and  blessed   by  such   bounty.     What  mausoleum, 


WHAT   WILL  MAKE   US   GENEROUS?      259 

however  splendid,  can  compare  with  the  monu- 
ment which  will  long  preserve  the  memory  of  the 
man  who  establislied  the  Lowell  lectures  in  Boston  ? 
Those  lectures  have  elevated  the  whole  tone  of  this 
community,  have  often  given  a  new  object  in  life, 
and  inspired  with  the  love  of  knowledge  many  a 
youthful  mind. 

Nor  is  generosity  that  constitutional  sympathy 
which  takes  an  interest  in  persons  who  are  near 
us,  and  warms  to  the  latest  tale  of  sorrow.  Such  a 
sentiment  is  indeed  very  lovely,  and  always  brings 
comfort  with  it.  The  sympathy  of  others  is  a  great 
consolation  in  trouble.  But  this  may  be  only  a 
sentiment,  an  emotion,  which  begins  and  ends  with 
the  hour.  Generosity  is  more  than  that.  It  gives 
itself,  its  own  thought,  power,  ability,  love,  to  the 
good  of  others.  It  enters  into  their  needs ;  thinks 
for  them  ;  remembers  them  when  absent ;  makes 
sacrifices  willingly  for  their  sake.  It  denies  itself 
for  others,  and  says  nothing  about  its  self-denial.. 
It  keeps  no  account  of  its  sacrifices  or  of  its  bounty. 
Its  joy  is  in  giving ;  it  is  only  happy  when  mak- 
ing some  one  else  happy.  As  it  is  the  nature 
of  tlie  fish  to  swim,  and  of  the  bird  to  fly,  so  it 
is  the  nature  of  the  generous  man  to  give,  hop- 
ing for  nothing  again.  Generosity  has  something 
boundless,  unlimited,  infinite,  in  its  quality.  It  is 
like  the  sun,  which  evermore  pours  out  its  abun- 
dant light  and  heat,  without  asking  wliat  becomes 
of  them.     Where  does  the  sun  obtain  these  stores 


260  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

of  radiance  and  of  fire  ?  No  one  knows.  Science 
has  never  been  able  to  answer  the  question,  except 
by  uncertain  conjectures.  Nor  can  one  tell  from 
what  inexhaustible  fountains  the  generous  man  ob- 
tains the  perennial  light  which  cheers  life  around 
him.  He  does  not  create  it ;  he  merely  lets  it  shine 
before  men,  so  that  others,  seeinoj  his  g-ood  works, 
may  glorify,  not  him,  but  his  Father  who  is  in 
heaven. 

How,  it  may  be  said,  can  there  be  such  a 
thing  as  cultivating  our  generosity  ?  The  essence 
of  generosity  is  love,  and  we  cannot  create  love 
by  an  effort.  This  is  a  difficulty  which  many  feel. 
We  know  that  we  ought  to  love  God  with  all  our 
heart,  and  our  neighbor  as  ourselves.  But  how 
can  we  make  ourselves  love  from  a  sense  of  duty  ? 
How  can  we  love  by  a  resolve  of  the  will  ?  We 
can,  by  an  effort,  perform  the  outward  action ;  but 
how  can  we  cause  ourselves  to  take  pleasure  in 
doino'  o-ood  ? 

This  objection  is  well  founded.  No  one  can  love 
from  a  sense  of  duty,  or  by  a  direct  effort.  And 
yet  we  ought  to  love ;  we  ought  to  forget  our- 
selves in  generous  actions.  That  is  the  paradox. 
We  ought  to  do  what  we  are  unable  to  do.  How 
are  we  to  solve  this  difficulty  ? 

Our  answer  is  this  :  What  we  cannot  do  directly 
we  may  do  indirectly ;  what  we  cannot  do  at  once, 
we  may  do  by  degrees ;  what  we  cannot  do  by  our- 
selves, we  may  do  by  the  help  of  God  and  by  the 


WHAT   WILL  MAKE   US   GENEROUS?       2G1 

influences  he  sends.  If  he  makes  it  a  duty  to  love 
him  and  to  love  otliers,  we  may  be  sure  there  is 
some  way  by  which  we  can  do  it. 

What  a  dreadful  thing  it  is  not  to  love  !  The 
unloving  man  lives  utterly  alone ;  he  comes  into 
union  with  none  of  his  race.  He  is  among  them, 
but  not  of  them.  Always  there  is  some  barrier 
between  his  heart  and  theirs ;  there  is  no  approach, 
no  contact.  His  soul  is  lonely,  in  a  dreary  solitude. 
What  a  hell  of  despair  is  in  the  word  "  egotism "  ! 
The  man  who  is  an  egotist,  who  is  always  thinking 
of  himself,  is  dead  while  he  lives.  There  is  no  joy, 
no  sunshine,  in  his  heart.  All  there  is  icy  cold. 
Only  when  we  love  we  really  live.  We  may  say, 
in  one  word,  "  Love  is  heaven,  and  selfishness  is 
Hell,  here  and  hereafter." 

That  we  only  really  live  while  we  love  some- 
thing outside  of  ourselves  —  while  we  are  in  com- 
munion with  Nature,  truth,  man,  God  —  is  a  fact 
which  philosophy  recognizes  no  less  than  religion. 
The  self-absorbed  man  is  only  half  alive.  He 
who  is  always  thinking  of  himself,  his  good  quali- 
ties and  merits,  his  rights  and  his  wrongs,  his  suc- 
cesses and  failures  ;  he  who  is  seeking  for  praise, 
who  thinks  of  his  reputation,  who  watches  his  own 
shadow,  is  really  losing  the  bread  of  life,  and  being 
starved  at  the  centre  of  his  soul.  The  ancients 
fabled  that  Narcissus  by  always  looking  at  himself 
in  a  spring,  and  admiring  his  own  beauty,  pined 
away  and  died.     The  moral  is  obvious. 


262  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

"Whatever  takes  us  out  of  ourselves  in  a  genuine 
interest  in  God's  great  world  around  us  is  a  source 
of  new  and  generous  life.  A  hearty  devotion  to 
others  is  generosity. 

The  first  way,  then,  to  make  ourselves  generous 
is  to  look  at  the  good  in  things  about  us.  This  is 
one  great  advantage  of  education.  True  education 
is  not  that  which  loads  the  memory  with  dead  facts, 
but  the  discipline  which  makes  all  truth  interest- 
ing. The  moment  we  are  interested  in  any  truth 
w^e  forget  ourselves.  Even  Byron,  the  great  egotist 
of  modern  times,  forcjot  liimself  when  he  thouoht  of 
the  solemn  desolation  of  Eome. 

A  liberal  education  is  that  which  frees  a  man 
from  himself.  "  Ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the 
truth  shall  make  you  free."  No  one  is  so  much  a 
slave  as  the  man  who  is  tied  by  his  own  appetites, 
ambitions,  vanities,  conceit. 

"  Stone  walls  do  not  a  prison  make, 

Nor  iron  bars  a  cage ; 
Minds  innocent  and  quiet  take 

That  for  an  hermitage. 
If  I  have  freedom  in  my  love, 

And  in  my  thoughts  am  free, 
Angels  alone  that  soar  above, 

Enjoy  such  liberty." 

I  have  heard  of  a  person  who  in  a  great  and  over- 
mastering sorrow  sought  comfort  in  the  study  of 
mathematics.  *  Mr.  Emerson  commends  the  sight 
of  the  everlasting  stars  in  their  majestic  stability  to 


WHAT    WILL  MAKE   US   GENEROUS?     2G3 

tranquillize  the  turbulent  spirit.  The  beauty  of 
nature  takes  us  out  of  ourselves,  and  soothes  the 
soul  with  the  presence  of  a  divine  beauty.  Who 
that  in  our  New  England  Octobers  has  seen  the 
glory  of  the  woods,  their  golden  yellows,  their  rich 
crimson,  the  contrast  of  the  deep-blue  heaven  with 
the  gorgeous  coloring  of  the  eartli,  but  has  been 
lifted  above  himself  ?  Dr.  Channin(^  was  once  driv- 
ing  with  a  lady  by  tlie  sliore  of  the  ocean.  The 
lady  said,  "Oh,  Dr.  Channing,  how^  small  we  seem 
in  view  of  all  this  ! "  Dr.  Channing  replied,  "  When 
I  am  in  sucli  a  presence  as  this  I  do  not  think  of 
myself  at  all !  "  This  is  the  real  office  of  Nature,  to 
free  us  from  all  small  eojotism  bv  brinoino-  us  into 
communion  with  infinite  beauty  and  wisdom. 

But  a  still  better  consolation  in  our  sorrow  comes 
to  us  when  we  find  something  to  do  for  others.  To 
do  any  good  work  enlarges  the  heart.  Our  own 
misfortunes  sometimes  lead  us  to  sympathize  with 
others  as  we  could  not  do  before  we  had  ourselves 
suffered.     So  Wordsworth  says  :  — 

"  A  deep  distress  has  humanized  my  soul." 

When  w^e  are  able  to  do  good  to  any  one  we  begin 
to  love  him.  We  like  those  who  are  kind  to  us, 
but  we  like  better  those  to  whom  we  are  kind. 
Our  own  hearts  will  be  enlarged  when  we  each 
day  endeavor  to  make  some  one  else  happier.  This 
is  the  secret  of  inward  peace.  Jesus  went  about 
doing  good.     He  did  not  stay  at  home  and  wait  till 


264  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

some  one  asked  for  help,  for  he  came  to  seek,  as  well 
as  save,  those  who  needed  aid.  His  kindness  was 
active,  not  passive.  He  took  the  initiative.  Doing 
good  is  an  excellent  way  of  gaining  good.  When 
you  wait  till  you  are  asked  before  you  help  any 
one,  you  are  thrown  into  a  condition  of  resistance. 
When  you  give,  how  often  it  is  done  "grudgingly 
and  by  necessity "  !  But  God  loves  a  cheerful 
giver;  and  so  do  men  love  a  cheerful  giver,  one 
whose  heart  goes  with  his  hand. 

This  means  that  we  should  be  not  only  generous 
in  action,  but  also  generous  in  thought ;  that  we 
should  take  the  trouble  to  think  about  others,  to 
enter  into  their  state  of  mind,  to  learn  how  to 
rejoice  with  those  who  rejoice,  and  to  weep  with 
those  who  weep.  How  thankful  we  are  to  those 
who  try  to  understand  us ;  who  enter  lovingly  into 
our  state  of  mind ;  who  divine  the  secret  of  our 
capabilities  and  defects  :  who  encourage  us  to  do 
better,  and  show  us  what  we  are  able  to  accomplish ! 
There  are  people  who  only  think  about  themselves ; 
but,  thank  God,  there  are  also  those  in  the  world 
who  think  about  others,  —  not  to  find  fault,  not  to 
censure  and  condemn,  but  to  comfort,  encourage, 
and  strenothen. 

o 

Such  persons  we  have  all  known.  I  was  once 
preaching  in  a  small  town  in  Central  New  York, 
and  I  described  in  my  sermon  a  good  woman  whom 
I  had  once  known  in  a  distant  State.  She  was  the 
wise  friend  and  helper  of  all  in  the  town  \vho  were 


WHAT   WILL  MAKE   US   GENEROUS?      265 

in  any  trouble  or  want.  Young  and  old  went  to 
her  with  their  difficulties,  sure  of  finding  some  help. 
Her  very  presence  seemed  to  bring  sunlight,  she 
lived  in  such  an  atmosphere  of  serene  wisdom  and 
goodness.  She  was  a  mother  in  Israel,  spending 
her  life  in  thinking  of  others.  If  any  were  lonely 
and  neglected,  she  noticed  their  solitude,  and  con- 
trived some  way  of  bringing  them  into  the  society 
they  needed.  If  any  youth  or  maiden  seemed  in 
danger  of  being  misled  by  foolish  companions,  she 
ingeniously  arranged  some  plan  for  counteracting 
these  snares,  and  interesting  them  in  better  things. 
And  why  should  there  not  be  ingenuity  and  con- 
trivance for  good  ends  as  well  as  for  evil  ones  ? 
When  Jesus  told  the  story  of  the  unjust  steward, 
he  pointed  the  moral  by  saying  that  the  children 
of  this  world  are  in  their  generation  wiser  than  the 
children  of  light.  Good  people  are  too  often  satis- 
fied with  having  good  intentions,  and  they  let  the 
result  take  care  of  itself.  But  Jesus  said,  "  Be 
wise  as  serpents  ;  "  and  Paul  said,  "  Do  not  fight  as 
one  who  beats  the  air."  So  this  good  woman  of 
whom  I  spoke  hit  on  ingenious  expedients  for 
helping  her  friends  and  neighbors.  And  after  I 
had  finished  this  description,  a  gentleman  living 
near  the  place  came  to  me  and  said,  "  I  was  not 
aware  that  you  ever  knew  our  good  Miss  Mappa, 
but  you  described  her  exactly."  I  had  not  known 
her,  and  I  was  making  a  portrait  of  another  per- 
son in  a  distant  place ;   but  I  found  there  were 


266  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

two  good  women  of  the  kind ;  and  if  two,  why 
not  twenty  ?  why  not  many  more  ?  Such  people, 
wherever  they  may  be  found,  are  in  their  own 
homes  and  neighborhood  wells  of  refreshment  to 
the  weary  and  forlorn,  full  of  heavenly  intelli- 
gence, charitable  ingenuity,  skilful  devices  for  doing 
good. 

Let  us  put  our  mind  into  some  work  by  which 
those  about  us  w^ould  be  made  better  and  happier. 
If  every  day  we  took  the  trouble  of  thinking  about 
the  best  interests  of  others,  we  should  find  ourselves 
growing  in  generosity,  A  man  in  the  Boston 
Post-Office  once  said  to  me:  "I  have  not  a  great 
deal  to  spend  in  charity,  and  I  have  considered 
how  I  could  make  it  go  furthest.  Noticing  how 
many  persons  lose  their  letters  by  the  postage 
being  unpaid  or  insufficiently  paid,  I  make  my 
charity  consist  in  paying  the  postage  on  such  let- 
ters and  sending  them  to  their  address.  Thus  by 
paying  one  or  two  cents  I  may  sometimes  keep  an 
important  communication  from  going  to  the  Dead 
Letter  Office.  Some  poor  mother,  perhaps,  gets  the 
letter  from  her  son  which  she  would  otherwise 
lose."  1  thought  this  a  piece  of  benevolent  con- 
trivance worth  imitating.  I  had  another  friend 
who  habitually  sent  newspapers  such  as  w^e  read 
and  throw  away,  to  persons  in  different  parts  of 
the  country,  who  were  made  happy  by  receiving 
them.  He  had  a  list  of  young  men  and  women 
who  had  gone  from  New  England  to  work  or  teach. 


IVHAT    WILL  MAKE   US   GENEROUS?       267 

ill  Tennessee  or  Colorado,  and  he  selected  such  jour- 
nals as  he  thought  would  help  them  —  to  the  teach- 
ers, some  journal  of  education  ;  to  the  Episcopalian 
or  Baptist  young  woman,  some  paper  of  her  own 
denomination.  This  is  what  Jesus  meant  by  the 
wisdom  of  the  serpent,  —  to  think  about  the  best 
way  of  being  useful,  and  to  put  one's  mind  into  it. 

It  is  not  by  doing  some  one  important  thing  at 
long  intervals  that  we  become  generous,  but  by 
practising  small  acts  of  generosity  every  day.  Many 
small  transgressions  make  the  habit  of  evil ;  many 
small  words  or  acts  of  kindness  create  the  habit  of 
goodness.  Action  and  reaction  are  equal  in  morals 
as  well  as  in  physics.  Do  a  kind  action,  and  it 
makes  you  feel  kindly.     Let  us  have 

"  A  sense  of  an  earnest  will 
To  help  the  lowly  Hving, 
And  a  terrible  heart-thrill 

When  we  have  no  power  of  giving. 
An  arm  of  aid  to  the  weak, 

A  friendly  hand  to  the  friendless, 
Kind  words  — so  short  to  speak  — 
But  whose  echo  is  endless. 
The  world  is  wide,  these  things  are  small, 
They  may  be  nothing,  but  they  are  all." 

Wordsworth  says  that  the  largest  portion  of  a  good 
man's  life  consists  in  his  "little,  nameless,  unre- 
membered  acts  of  kindness  and  of  love."  It  is  not 
the  aujount  we  do,  but  the  spirit  in  wliich  we  act, 
that  is  the  important  matter. 


268  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

And  this  spirit  comes  to  us  from  on  high.  Ee- 
ligion  consists  in  looking  to  the  divine  beauty  and 
generosity  which  is  above  us.  The  cynical  man 
looks  down  with  contempt  on  what  he  thinks  below 
himself.  The  religious  man  looks  up  with  adora- 
tion to  higher  and  nobler  generosity  in  man  and  in 
God,  and  so  he  grows  into  the  likeness  of  what  he 
contemplates.  This  is  the  way  in  which  Paul  de- 
scribes the  influence  of  Jesus  on  the  soul.  He  tells 
us  that  the  goodness  of  Jesus  is  a  kind  of  mirror 
in  which  we  see  the  goodness  of  God,  and  that  the 
more  we  look  into  that  mirror,  the  more  we  become 
like  Christ  and  God.  "We  all,  with  open  face, 
beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are 
changed  into  the  same  image,  from  glory  to  greater 
glory,  even  as  by  the  spirit  of  the  Lord."  That  is 
another  way  of  becoming  generous,  —  by  associating 
with  generous  people,  contemplating  noble  lives, 
beholding  the  generosity  of  Christ  and  the  bounty 
of  God,  and  so  imbibing  something  of  that  spirit. 

In  order  to  enter  heaven  hereafter  we  must  en- 
ter heaven  here ;  and  heaven  is  the  condition  of 
a  generous  soul.  I  am  glad  to  see  men  of  all  de- 
nominations beginning  to  protest  against  the  notion 
that  Christianity  consists  in  thinking  how  to  save 
our  soul  from  a  future  outward  hell  into  a  future 
outward  heaven.  One  may  be  called  Orthodox 
and  another  Unitarian,  but  these  old  lines  are 
becoming  a  good  deal  blurred.  They  are  fading 
out.      It  is   encouraging   to   see   so   many   taking 


WHAT   WILL  MAKE   US   GENEROUS?       269 

ground  against  the  low  and  unworthy  notion  which 
makes  of  religion  a  talisman  or  charm  by  which 
to  escape  from  the  vengeance  of  God.  It  is  time 
we  put  aside  such  pagan  conceptions  of  the  Deity. 
We  are  converted  —  so  says  Jesus  —  when  we  be- 
come as  little  children,  laying  away  our  pride  and 
conceit,  our  egotism  and  selfish  worldly  aims.  Then 
the  love  of  God  enters  our  hearts.  And  this  new 
life  is  that  whicih  is  always  coming,  not  that  which 
came  long  ago.  Be  truthful,  honest,  kind,  and 
generous  to-day,  and  trust  God  to  take  care  of 
your  soul  to-morrow.  Heaven  is  here,  or  it  is  no- 
where. 1  should  not  say  to  a  man,  "  Be  religious, 
for  you  may  die  to-morrow,"  but  rather,  "  Learn  to 
love  God  and  man,  for  you  have  to  live  to-day." 
We  may  enter  heaven  any  moment  by  the  eternally 
open  doorway  of  faith,  hope,  and  love.  Trust  in 
God  as  infinite  goodness.  Hope  that  he  will  make 
you  altogether  generous,  pure,  true,  and  good ;  and 
go  out  of  yourself  in  loving  thoughts  for  others, 
loving  actions  of  good-will,  loving  words  of  sym- 
pathy. Be  sure  that  the  divine  life  is  ready  to  be 
shed  abroad  in  your  heart  this  very  hour.  God's 
love  is  nearer  to  you  than  anything  else  in  time 
or  eternity. 


XVIII. 

POWER    AND    AIM, 


XYIII. 
POWER  AND   AIM. 


Lj^MEESON'  somewhere  tells  us  that  "power 
-'-^  and  aim  are  the  two  halves  of  liuman 
felicity."  There  is  a  profound  wisdom  in  this 
saying. 

Power,  without  aim,  leads  nowhere,  and  tends  to 
nullity.  Aim  without  power  does  not  accomplish 
what  it  proposes,  and  thus  falls  into  discouragement, 
which  is  also  nullity.  Each,  by  itself,  journeys  to- 
w^ard  nothingness.  Together,  they  accomplish  the 
wonders  of  time  and  eternity. 

When,  however,  we  speak  of  any  grown-up  hu- 
man beings  without  an  aim,  we  mean  without  one 
which  is  permanent  and  adequate.  Every  one,  or 
nearly  every  one,  has  some  purpose  in  view,  some 
end  in  sight.  Except  the  Neapolitan  lazzaroni 
dozing  on  the  shore  of  the  Bay  of  Naples,  or  the 
dreaming  poets,  most  persons  are  chasing  some- 
thing all  day  long,  —  pleasure,  gain,  power,  distinc- 
tion. But  these  purposes  are  not  always  blessed 
ones ;  they  do  not  make  a  part  of  human  felicity. 
They  are  well  enough  for  a  time,  but  not  satisfactory 
18 


274  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

for  a  life.  Iii  the  aim  of  life  there  should  be  some- 
thing infinite,  eternal;  something  carrying  with  it 
a  touch  of  immortality  and  heaven.  This  infinite 
quality,  with  its  hidden  charm,  belongs  to  duty,  to 
love,  to  truth.  This  is  the  indivisible  trinity  to 
which  all  of  life  must  tend  in  order  to  have  any 
permanent  interest  or  value.  To  do  right  because 
right  is  true  and  lovely ;  to  seek  truth  in  order  that 
we  may  put  it  into  action,  and  so  help  others ;  to 
be  wisely  generous,  practically  sympathetic,  —  this 
is  the  great  aim  which  gives  the  soul  an  infinite 
content. 

Some  persons,  however,  have  power  without  aim. 
Little  children  begin  life  so.  They  put  forth  in- 
exhaustible energy  in  all  directions.  They  are  not 
meant  to  be  tied  to  any  one  thing.  Their  supply  of 
activity  is  so  prodigious  that  they  learn  by  every- 
thing they  see  and  touch.  They  are  making  ex- 
periments all  day  long.  Nature  welcomes  them  into 
her  friendly  arms,  and  opens  her  wonderful  pages 
for  their  delight  and  instruction.  How  sad  to  see 
the  little  things  taken  from  their  play-room  and 
play-ground,  where  they  learn  at  every  moment, 
and  chained  to  a  bench  or  a  book,  where  they  learn 
next  to  nothing !  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  doubt- 
less inconvenient  to  have  these  restless  little  fingers 
scattering  your  work,  overturning  your  furniture, 
breaking  your  ornaments,  tearing  leaves  from  3^our 
books.  The  golden  mean  is  to  be  found  in  that 
benign  discovery  of  modern  thought,  the  Kinder- 


POWER  AND  AIM.  275 

garten ;  or,  if  that  is  not  accessible,  then  we  must 
make  the  nursery  or  primary  school  as  much  like  a 
Kindergarten  as  we  can.  Give  the  children  plenty 
to  do  in  a  natural  way,  and  do  not  try  to  hold  them 
too  soon  to  a  fixed  purpose.  They  are  lovely  illus- 
trations of  power  without  aim. 

But  as  soon  as  the  children  begin  to  grow  up, 
this  is  no  longer  a  childlike  state,  but  a  childish 
one.  More  and  more  of  aim  and  purpose  ought  to 
come  in,  does  come  in,  —  outwardly  imposed  at  first, 
that  it  may  be  self-imposed  afterward.  With  chil- 
dren amusement  and  instruction  go  naturally  to- 
gether, amusement  carrying  with  it  instruction. 
Not  so  afterward.  The  young  man  or  young 
woman,  whose  aim  is  amusement,  grows  weary. 
Amusement  is  not  an  adequate  aim  for  a  grown 
person.  The  novels  of  social  life,  which  represent 
pretty  accurately  human  affairs,  show  us  men  and 
women  of  pleasure  as  excessively  weary ;  in  fact, 
tired  of  life  almost  before  they  have  begun  to  live. 
This  is  because  their  aim  is  not  adequate  to  their 
power.  It  does  not  draw  out  their  force ;  so  they 
become  vapid  even  to  themselves.  In  this  country 
we  have  been  hitherto  saved  from  this  shallow  class, 
w^hich  belongs  to  the  wealthy  capitals  of  Europe. 
It  is  the  habit  here  for  all  men,  rich  and  poor,  to 
do  some  useful  work.  I  hope  we  shall  not  soon 
have  among  us  many  of  those  imitators  of  foreign 
manners,  who  spend  their  time  in  dressing,  looking 
out  of  the  windows  of  club-houses,  getting  up  au 


276  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

imaginary  fox-hunt,  or  driving,  at  much  expense 
and  with  some  difficulty,  a  useless  four-in-hand 
stage-coacli. 

And  yet,  even  among  ourselves,  how  much  w^asted 
power  there  is,  —  misdirected  power  ;  power  spent 
on  inadequate  aims,  which  might  accomplish  so 
much  in  nobler  w^ays  ! 

I  am  not  one  of  those  who  think  that  money- 
making  in  itself  is  a  bad  thing.  It  is  a  good 
thing,  for  by  its  means  come  to  society  its  outward 
improvements  and  opportunities.  It  is  the  love  of 
money  which  is  the  root  of  evil,  not  money  itself, 
nor  money-making.  But  when  the  Apostle  said, 
"  The  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil,"  I  think 
he  hardly  exaggerated.  To  make  money  in  order 
to  use  it,  as  the  banker  Peabody  used  his  money, 
as  Peter  Cooper  used  his,  and  as  so  many  other 
rich  men  and  women  have  done  and  are  doing,  this 
is  not  "  the  love  of  money,"  it  is  the  love  of  doing 
good.  What  large  subscriptions  and  donations  are 
being  made  every  day  in  Boston  for  colleges  here 
and  in  every  other  State  of  the  Union  ;  for  the 
Indians  in  the  Territories;  the  colored  people  in 
North  Carolina  and  Georgia ;  for  kindergartens, 
hospitals,  missions,  asylums !  I  happen  to  know 
of  three  or  four  great  subscriptions  going  on  at 
this  moment,  side  by  side,  in  our  city.  Those  who 
have  money  and  use  it,  —  who  use  it  for  good  ends, 
—  are  not  those  who  love  it.  With  them,  power 
and  aim  are  properly  united. 


POWER  AND  AIM.  277 

We  read  in  the  newspapers  every  day  the  stories 
of  men  who,  after  long  years  of  honest  labor,  have 
wrecked  their  character  and  brought  untold  misery 
to  their  homes  by  making  haste  to  be  rich.  They 
have  speculated  with  funds  not  their  own,  and  lost 
them.  Oh !  they  did  not  mean  to  lose ;  no  doubt 
they  meant  to  gain  and  to  return  the  borrowed 
funds,  —  for  they  were  only  borrowed,  not  stolen. 
"  He  only  steals,"  say  they,  "  who  takes  what  he 
does  not  mean  to  return."  This  is  the  new  defini- 
tion which  is  to  replace  the  old  one,  "  He  steals 
who  takes  without  leave  what  does  not  belong  to 
him."  It  is  not,  therefore,  rich  people  only  who 
suffer  from  the  love  of  money.  The  poor  man  who 
trusts  in  money,  who  means  to  be  rich  any  how 
and  in  any  way;  who  leaves  his  honest  business 
to  speculate;  who  grumbles  and  is  angry  because 
others  accumulate  faster  than  he,  —  this  man,  with- 
out a  dollar  in  his  pocket,  loves  money  more  than 
Peter   Cooper   did   with   his   millions. 

"  Great  powers  and  low  aims  "  might  be  written 
as  an  epitaph  on  the  tomb  of  many  eminent  public 
men  and  leading  politicians.  Their  object  is  to 
rise,  to  become  more  distinguished,  get  a  better 
place,  make  themselves  popular,  talk  plausibly  on 
either  side  of  the  question,  fill  their  pockets  with 
the  people's  money.  Think  of  such  men,  and  then 
of  a  statesman  like  Burke,  a  champion  of  freedom 
like  Erskine,  a  patriot  like  Gambetta,  a  hero  like 
Garibaldi,  a  leader   like    Kossuth.     Think  of  our 


278  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

own  statesmen,  —  Jefferson,  John  Quincy  Adams, 
Hamilton,  Webster,  Sumner, —and  then  turn  to 
the  demagogues  whose  only  purpose  is  to  deceive 
the  people  by  adroit  cunning  and  amusing  tricks  ; 
who  sneer  at  reform,  and  imagine  the  salvation  of 
the  country  to  depend  on  the  election  of  a  popular 
or  influential  politician.  A  great  training,  splendid 
ability,  and  insignificant  objects,  —  in  this  sentence 
is  pronounced  the  decay  and  fall  of  many  a  repu- 
tation of  our  time.  Only  those  who  exert  their 
powers  for  the  good  of  the  country  will  be  remem- 
bered twenty  years  after  death.  Men  of  low  aims, 
however  brilliant,  are  often  forgotten  even  in  their 
lifetime. 

An  eminent  warning  of  the  nullity  of  vast  powers 
with  no  sufficient  aim  is  to  be  found  in  tlie  case 
of  the  first  Kapoleon.  No  other  man  of  such 
genius  has  appeared  in  our  century.  His  faculties  of 
observation,  judgment,  invention,  divination,  and  his 
mental  grasp,  were  almost  preternatural.  When 
planning  a  campaign,  he  saw  the  possibilities  before 
him,  the  events  which  would  occur,  as  other  men 
see  them  after  they  have  happened.  In  that  one 
brain  there  was  a  power  which  more  than  out- 
weighed the  generalship  and  statesmanship  of  the 
rest  of  Europe.  The  "  Code  Napoleon  "  shows  what 
he  might  have  effected  had  he  devoted  himself 
to  the  improvement  of  France,  the  education  of 
its  people,  the  development  of  good  institutions. 
Had  he  done  this  he  mioht  have  carried  forward 


POWER  AND  AIM.  279 

the  civilization  of  Europe  a  hundred  years,  laid  tlie 
foundation  of  a  permanent  peace  among  nations, 
shown  how  poverty,  crime,  intemperance,  idleness 
could  be  reformed  and  cured.  His  genius  was  ade- 
quate to  it  all.  Instead,  he  adopted  the  vulgar 
aim  of  a  commonplace  conqueror  like  Charles  XII. 
or  Frederick  the  Great,  and  his  whole  life-work 
passed  out  of  sight  in  a  single  generation. 

Another  example  of  great  mental  power  com- 
bined with  low  aims  is  that  of  Lord  Byron.  His 
poetic  genius  surpasses  that  of  any  other  writer 
since  the  time  of  Milton.  He  joined  with  a  mirac- 
ulous command  of  language  and  control  of  verse 
the  most  tender  and  noble  insiglit  into  the  beauty 
of  Nature  and  the  experiences  of  life.  His  poetry 
was  like  the  fountain  of  Helicon  breakincj  afresh 
from  the  soil.  But  this  majestic  and  lovely  lan- 
guage and  imagery  is  wasted  on  thoughts  empty  of 
value,  or  filled  with  a  shallow  scepticism.  Byron 
believed  in  nothing,  and  therefore  had  nothing  to 
say.  His  fame  was  like  the  Northern  lights,  wliicli 
lighten  up  half  of  the  heavens  with  columns  of 
rosy  fire  and  darting  coruscations,  but  disappear 
when  at  dawn  the  true  aurora  arrives.  But  he 
who,  like  Milton,  Wordsworth,  Dante,  lias  a  high 
purpose,  together  with  a  great  poetic  fancy,  illumi- 
nates long  periods  with  his  beneficent  light. 

Such  is  power  w^ithout  aim.  What  is  aim  with- 
out power  ?  Alas  !  we  see  also  examples  enough  of 
this;  of  those  who  choose  objects  for  which  they 


280  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

are  inadequate.  Poets  who  do  not  know  how  to 
sing ;  literary  people  who  cannot  write.  There  are 
reformers  who  propose  to  save  the  w^orld,  but  who 
have  not  force  enough  in  them  to  reform  them- 
selves. There  are  many  loud-voiced  prophets  of  a 
new  era  who  come  before  us  jDrofessing  to  preach 
some  new  and  everlasting  gospel,  but  are  not  al)le 
to  make  themselves  intelligible.  They  have  not 
power  even  to  explain  what  they  mean,  much  less 
to  convince  men  of  the  truth  of  what  they  say. 

The  beginning  of  the  natural  life  in  little  children 
shows  us  power  without  an  adequate  aim.  The 
beginning  of  the  spiritual  life  in  older  persons  often 
presents  tlie  opposite  experience,  —  that  of  aim 
without  adequate  power.  As  soon  as  one  endeav- 
ors seriously  to  do  his  duty,  to  love  Grod  and  man, 
to  follow  Christ,  to  become  a  good  man  ;  that  is,  as 
soon  as  he  adopts  a  truly  divine  and  heavenly  aim 
of  living,  he  finds  his  powers  are  not  equal  to  it. 
•'Tlie  spirit  is  willing,  the  flesh  is  weak."  He  means 
to  do  right,  and  does  wrong.  He  makes  good  reso- 
lutions, and  presently  breaks  them.  "I  see  the 
better  way,  and  approve  it,"  said  the  Latin  poet, 
"  but  I  follow  the  worse."  "  I  see  then  that  when  I 
would  do  good  evil  is  present  with  me,"  responds 
the  Jewish  apostle.  "  I  believe,  0  Cyrus,"  cried  the 
Asiatic  Araspes,  "that  I  have  two  souls.  When 
the  good  one  prevails,  it  does  noble  things ;  when 
the  bad  one  conquers,  evil  ones."  Thus  from  vari- 
ous races  of  mankind  comes  the  declaration  of  how 


POWER  AND  AIM.  281 

liard  it  is  to  keep  up  to  the  point  of  a  high  purpose, 
even  when  we  liave  reached  it.  How  easy  to  step 
backward  ;  how  easy  to  forget  our  good  intentions  ! 

What,  then,  shall  we  do  about  it  ?  One  of  two 
things.  Our  power  is  not  equal  to  our  aim.  That 
is  the  difficulty.  We  can  then  either  let  down  our 
aim  till  it  becomes  equal  to  our  power,  or  raise  our 
power  till  it  is  equal  to  the  aim. 

The  first  method  is  that  of  numbeiless  persons. 
When  they  find  that  "  old  Adam  is  too  strong  for 
young  Melanchthon,"  they  say,  "  Be  not  righteous 
overmuch ;  why  shouldst  tliou  destroy  thyself  ?  Do 
not  try  to  be  better  than  others.  If  one  is  as  good 
as  the  average,  that  is  enough."  This  way  of  think- 
ing kills  aspiration,  hope,  generous  endeavor.  We 
yield  to  the  current  and  drift  downward.  The  en- 
thusiastic boy  hardens  into  the  worldly  man.  He 
laughs  at  the  dreams  of  his  youth.  He  sinks  into 
habit,  routine,  and  self-indulgence.  That,  I  think, 
is  not  the  best  way  out  of  the  difficulty. 

But  how  we  reverence  the  man  and  the  woman 
who  take  the  other  way.  These  are  they  who  do 
not  forget  the  dreams  of  their  youth,  —  who  are 
always  advancing,  always  looking  for  something 
better  and  higher.  As  they  grow  old,  the  weight  of 
years  and  cares  is  not  heavier,  but  lighter.  They 
take  more  cheerful,  more  hopeful  views  of  the 
world's  future.  They  grow  more  generous,  more 
faithful,  more  tender,  more  true.  Need  I  remind 
you  of  these  good  spirits  ?     They  are  with  us  and 


282  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

around  us.  They  have  power  and  aim  both,  —  the 
two  halves  of  human  felicity.  Their  power  is  more 
full,  their  aim  more  sure.  Emerson  himself  was 
one  of  these,  and  so  was  Longfellow.  Both  aimed  at 
some  divine  truth,  some  heavenly  beauty,  a  larger 
communion,  a  loftier  life.  And  both  had  power  to 
the  last,  to  move  and  sway,  to  influence  and  attract, 
to  lift  others  around  them  to  a  higher  faith. 

More  than  any  other  who  ever  lived,  Jesus  joined 
a  perfect  aim  with  a  fulness  of  power.  His  life  was 
devoted  to  help  and  save  mankind  from  the  lowest 
evils,  and  to  raise  the  world  to  the  highest  plane. 
He  had  power  from  God  to  do  this.  God  gave  him 
the  spirit  without  measure,  and  the  result  was  a 
transformed  humanity. 

So  the  apostle  Paul  united  power  and  aim.  His 
life,  also,  was  spent  in  incessant  labors  to  spread 
the  gospel  of  truth  and  love.  And  he  did  it  with 
such  power  that  he  saw  Christianity  planted  in 
Europe,  and  a  religion  begun  there  which  would 
unite  many  races  and  nations  in  a  common  faith. 

These,  you  may  say,  are  men  of  genius,  men  of 
inspiration,  exceptional  men.  But  do  you  not  know 
others,  by  no  means  exceptional,  not  great  in  the 
world's  eye,  but  whose  lives  are  given  to  good 
things?  These  are  the  simple,  unpretending  follow- 
ers of  Christ.  They  make  no  profession.  They  do 
not  talk  of  their  sacrifices ;  they  find  a  pure  joy  in 
doing  good.  Their  aim  in  life  has  become  a  part  of 
themselves.     They  find  it  more  blessed  to  give  than 


POWER  AND  AHf.  283 

to  receive.  Their  joy  is  in  doing  something,  each 
day,  kindly,  helpful,  sympathetic.  And  because 
they  walk  in  love,  they  walk  steadily  and  with  an 
increasing  power. 

What  is  the  secret  of  this  continuous,  uninter- 
rupted goodness  ?  It  is  faith,  which  works  by  love. 
It  believes  and  trusts  in  the  words  of  Jesus.  "  We 
are  saved  by  faith,"  cried  tlie  Apostle,  and  it  is  still 
true  that  we  are  saved  by  faith.  It  is  the  trust 
that  when  God  gives  us  a  duty  he  will  give  us  the 
power  to  do  it.  It  is  the  trust  that  if  we  live  in 
the  spirit,  we  shall  walk  in  the  spirit;  that  is,  if 
we  surround  ourselves  witk  an  atmosphere  of  good 
thoughts  and  purposes,  we  shall  have  power  to 
carry  them  out  into  action.  Jesus  came  to  bring 
hope  to  the  world.  He  came  to  teach  us  to  feel 
ourselves  little  children  in  the  universal  arms  of  a 
divine  compassion.  He  inspired  this  confidence  in 
his  disciples.  They  believed  that  God  would  give 
them  all  the  power  they  needed  while  they  trusted 
in  him.  And  so  they  had  it;  and  so  we  have  it, 
when  we  also  trust  in  God.  It  is  only  in  our  hours 
of  doubt  and  despondency  that  we  are  weak.  We 
think  of  the  dear  Christ,  our  Master,  and  look 
up,  and  God  revives  his  work  in  the  midst  of  the 
years. 

When  our  purpose  is  to  give,  —  to  acquire 
things,  not  in  order  to  keep  them  selfishly,  but  to 
communicate  freely,  —  then  to  give  is  a  joy.  It  is 
no  longer  a  difficult  thing  to  keep  to  this  end ;  it 


284  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

is  never  difficult  to  do  what  is  pleasant.  We  may 
forget  our  intention,  we  may  sink  back  into  in- 
dolence or  wilfulness  ;  but  when  we  look  into  our- 
selves we  see  that  we  have  no  peace  within.  Once 
more  we  realize  that  we  belong  to  God  and  to 
Cln^st;  that  we  are  fellow- workers  with  Jesus; 
that  he  is  here  by  our  side,  and  that  there  can  be 
nothing  so  lovely  as  to  labor  with  him.  Then  the 
good  aim  comes  back,  and  we  know  that  power  will 
come  too. 

When  we  hesitate  before  a  task  because  it  is 
difficult,  and  adjourn  its  performance,  and  begin  to 
excuse  ourselves,  and  say,  "  At  a  more  convenient 
season  I  will  be^in  it,"  we  grow  weak,  and  no  such 
convenient  season  comes.  But  when  we  say,  "  Here 
is  an  opportunity  of  doing  some  good  ;  I  do  not 
know  how,  but  God  is  with  me ;  he  can  help  me  J 
he  can  give  me  power  and  open  the  way,"  —  then 
how  often  the  way  is  open  ;  some  good  influence 
comes  to  help  us.  The  difficulties  disappear.  The 
right  words  are  given  us.  What  seemed  so  hard  is 
easy  and  pleasant.  We  discover  that  it  is  as  true 
now  as  it  was  twenty-five  centuries  ago,  that  "  those 
who  wait  on  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength." 

There  is  nothing  formal  about  this  sort  of  re- 
ligion. It  has  nothing  to  do  with  creeds  or  rituaL 
It  is  a  simple  conviction  that  the  law  of  the  spirit  of 
life  is  as  Jesus  said ;  that  it  is  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive;  that  those  wlio  exalt  themselves 
shall  be  abased,  and  those  who  humble  themselves 


POWER  AND  AIM.  285 

shall  be  exalted ;  that  all  things  work  together  for 
good  to  them  that  love  God;  and  that  with  this  aim 
before  us,  power  will  come  to  us.  So  we  are  afraid 
of  nothing^  here  or  hereafter.  We  feel  safe  in  the 
protection  of  infinite  love. 

In  religion,  power  and  aim  are  the  two  halves 
of  goodness.  The  man  who  aims  at  goodness,  but 
never  succeeds,  is  not  a  good  man.  The  powerful 
preacher,  the  great  exhorter,  the  self-denying  monk, 
who  yet  has  not  the  spirit  of  Christ,  is  none  of 
his.  "  Thougli  I  'speak  with  the  tongue  of  men 
and  ano-els,  and  have  not  love,  I  am  as  sounding 
brass  and  a  tinkling  cymbal."  The  aim  in  Chris- 
tianity is  love  ;  the  power  is  faith.  Those  who  seek 
to  escape  from  selfishness  and  wilfulness  into  a 
large,  honest,  joyful  generosity,  must  join  with  that 
a  steadfast  trust  in  the  ever-present  love.  Then 
they  have  power.  To  doubt,  to  hesitate,  to  post- 
pone, is  to  lose  the  occasion.  Walk  in  faith  toward 
love.  Then  you  have  the  power  and  the  aim  to- 
gether. Look  beyond  the  things  seen  into  the 
world  of  eternal  realities,  and  put  your  trust  in 
those,  —  in  that  eternal  truth,  eternal  goodness,  eter- 
nal wisdom,  which  enfolds  all  that  seems  weak,  and 
surrounds  all  that  seems  low  and  evil.  Trust  in 
this,  and  power  comes  to  you.  So,  the  aim  and  tlie 
power  being  in  harmony,  there  arrive  joy  and  peace, 
hope  and  satisfaction. 


XIX. 
VIS  INERTIA  IN  NATURE  AND  LIFE. 


XIX. 

VIS  INERTIA  IN  NATURE  AND  LIFE. 


TT  happened  to  me,  once,  to  be  invited  to  visit 
-^  one  of  the  vaults  filled  with  those  large  safes 
whicii  are  used  in  banks  and  elsewhere.  I  noticed 
the  heavy  steel  doors  by  whicli  they  are  closed  and 
secured,  and  took  hold  of  one  of  these  doors  and 
tried  to  move  it.  I  had  to  exert  a  good  deal  of 
force,  and  even  then  I  only  succeeded  in  causing 
it  to  move  quite  slowly.  But  when  I  attempted  to 
stop  this  motion,  T  found  it  equally  difficult  to 
do  so.  Though  the  heavy  door  was  going  very 
slowly,  it  required  a  considerable  muscular  effort  to 
check  its  progress.  I  thus  perceived  that  it  takes 
as  much  power  to  stop  such  motion  as  it  does  to 
begin  it. 

This  is  a  simple  illustration  of  what  physical 
science  has  called  the  vis  inertia:,  or  inert  force. 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  defined  "  inertia,  or  the  innate 
force  of  matter,"  as  "the  power  of  resistance  by 
Avhich  every  material  body  endeavors  to  persevere 
in  its  present  state,  whetlier  of  rest,  or  of  motion 
in  a  straight  line."  "  But  a  body,"  he  adds,  "  exerts 
19 


290  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

this  force  only  when  another  force,  acting  on  it, 
endeavors  to  cliange  its  condition."  Newton  also 
adds  that  this  may  be  called  "  vis  inerticv,  or  force 
of  inactivity,"  and  that  it  really  means  the  inac- 
tivity of  the  mass  of  matter. 

But  if  it  means  inactivity,  how  can  it  be  called 
"  a  force  "  ?  Is  not  "  inert  force  "  a  contradiction 
m  terms  ?  It  seems  to  be  not  force,  but  a  power 
of  retaining  force.  Inertia  is  tlie  great  storehouse 
of  the  forces  of  nature,  and  prevents  their  dissipa- 
tion and  loss. 

If  it  were  not  for  this  power  of  inertia,  the  order 
of  the  universe  could  not  be  maintained.  For 
without  such  a  provision  we  could  not  rely  on  the 
continuity  of  the  powers  of  gravity,  magnetism, 
chemical  action  ;  there  would  be  no  guarantee  for 
the  movements  of  the  planets  in  their  orbits,  for 
the  return  of  day  anfl  night,  summer  and  winter, 
for  the  growth  of  plants,  the  life  of  animals.  "  Con- 
servation of  force"  is,  in  the  last  analysis,  this 
mysterious  law  of  inertia.  The  same  law  which 
governed  the  motion  of  the  heavy  steel  door  of  the 
safe  retains  the  sun  and  the  stars  in  tlieir  places. 

But  this  law  of  inertia,  or  "  inert  force,"  finds 
other  applications  and  illustrations  in  the  intellect- 
ual and  moral  world.  There  is  a  law  of  inertia  in 
thought,  which  is  the  "  conservation  of  intellectual 
force."  It  means  that  all  real  thoudit,  all  insight 
of  truth,  is  a  permanent  possession,  and  cannot  be 
lost.     It   mav   change   its   form,   but   it  cannot   be 


VIS  INERTIA  IN  NATURE  AND  LIFE.     291 

destroyed.  Bryant  says  of  truth  that  "  the  eteiiial 
years  of  God  are  hers."     Emerson  tells  us  tliat 

"  One  accent  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
The  heedless  world  has  never  lost." 

We  are  forever  saying  that  "  truth  is  miglity,  and 
must  prevail."  This  is  one  great  hope  for  mankind, 
that  every  new  truth,  when  once  recognized,  must 
enter  into  the  life  of  the  world,  and  contribute  to 
its  progress. 

But  let  us  remember  that  the  same  law  which 
preserves  truth  once  attained  makes  the  difficulty 
in  its  first  reception.  Reformers  are  apt  to  be 
bitter  a^^ainst  conservatives,  and  call  them  bi<]jots 
because  they  resist  so  obstinately  the  new  light. 
But  the  same  inertia  which  makes  it  hard  to  move 
the  steel  door  keeps  it  in  motion  after  it  has  once 
begun  to  move.  If  truth  were  easy  to  receive,  it 
would  be  easy  to  lose  it  again.  This  is  a  lesson 
which  reformers  are  slow  to  learn ;  but  they  need 
it,  in  order  to  be  patient  and  just  to  their  oppo- 
nents, and  candid  in  their  judgments.  We  must 
be  willing  to  grant  that  the  same  love  of  truth 
which  moves  the  reformer  is  the  motive  which 
refuses  to  yield  easily  or  suddenly  to  his  arguments. 
It  is  best  that  it  should  be  so. 

We  may  have  some  favorite  measure  which  seems 
to  us  to  contain  tlie  secret  of  all  progress.  It  is  the 
movement  the  time  demands.  It  is  perhaps  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  or  of  war,  or  of  intemperance  ; 


292  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

it  is  woman  suffrage,  free  trade,  civil  service  re- 
form, a  broader  Christian  faith,  a  rational  Chris- 
tianity. We  cannot  see  why  men  do  not  accept 
our  belief,  and  accept  it  now.  A¥e  wish  to  have 
it  embodied  at  once  in  the  law  of  the  land  or  in 
the  creeds  of  the  church.  It  seems  so  true  and 
right  and  necessary  that  we  think  it  intolerable  not 
to  have  it  at  once  received  by  mankind. 

It  is  the  law  of  inertia  which  stands  in  our  way, 
and  that  is  a  most  useful  and  beneficent  law.  It 
means  that  a  vast  amount  of  effort  must  be  made  to 
convince  and  convert  men,  before  you  can  embody 
truth  in  institutions  and  laws.  It  means  that  the  peo- 
ple must  be  educated  to  believe  in  the  reform,  other- 
wise it  is  of  no  use  to  enact  it  as  a  law.  Passinq-  a 
vote  will  not  answer.  Contriving  to  get  a  bare  ma- 
jority will  not  answer.  Politicians  want  to  carry  the 
next  election,  and  to  carry  it  by  any  means,  good  or 
bad.  But  reformers  have  a  much  more  difticult  and 
important  work.  It  is  to  change  the  convictions  of 
the  people,  so  that  when  the  reform  arrives  it  may 
come  to  stay.  The  same  vis  inertice  which  resisted 
it  will  then  operate  to  maintain  it.  Slavery  and 
its  evils  were  discussed  for  thirty  years,  and  then 
those  evils  had  to  be  still  more  fully  sliown  by  the 
great  rebellion  and  secession,  before  the  people  of 
tlie  United  States  could  be  educated  to  the  point  of 
abolishing  that  pernicious  institution.  How  often 
during  those  weary  years  the  hearts  of  the  anti- 
slavery  reformers  were  chilled  by  dull  opposition, 


VIS  INERTnE  IN  NATURE  AND  LIFE.      293 

and  their  hopes  cruelly  disappointed !  Like  the 
souls  under  the  throne,  they  cried,  "  How  long,  0 
Lord,  how  long  I  "  But  the  result  of  it  was  that  at 
last  tlie  whole  people  were  brought  to  see  that  this 
institution  cumbered  the  ground,  and  must  be  swept 
away.  And  so  it  went,  never  to  return.  Of  all 
those  who  defended  it  as  right  and  Christian,  not 
one  remains.  No  one,  anywhere,  wishes  to  have  it 
back.     None  are  so  poor  as  to  do  it  reverence. 

Custom  and  imitation  make  a  part  of  the  xis 
inertm  in  morals.  People  do  things  because  they 
have  been  accustomed  to  do  them,  and  because  otliers 
do  them.  Fifty  years  ago  the  Peace  societies  began 
to  demonstrate  the  evils  of  war.  More  than  tliirty 
years  ago  I  went,  as  a  delegate  from  a  church,  to  a 
Peace  convention  held  in  Paris,  over  which  Victor 
Hugo  presided,  the  object  of  which  was  to  put  an 
end'^to  all  war.  To  settle  international  disputes  we 
proposed  to  have  what  Tennyson  calls 

"  The  Piuiiament  of  Man,  the  Federation  of  the  World." 

All  international  quarrels  were  to  be  settled  by 
laws  passed  by  a  Congress  of  Nations,  and  each 
case  was  to  be  decided  under  those  laws  by  a  High 
Court  of  Nations.  We  proposed,  in  fact,  to  apply  to 
the  States  of  Europe  the  principles  of  the  American 
Union.  Alas!  since  then,  how  many  wars  have 
sent  desolation  over  tlie  world  !  Every  one  admits 
the  evil  of  war,  but  the  power  of  custom  is  still  too 
strong  to  be  conquered.     It  seems  now  as  if  war 


294  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

would  come  to  an  end  by  the  intolerable  magni- 
tude of  its  burdens.  The  nations  of  Europe  stagger 
under  the  weight  of  their  enormous  standing  armies. 
The  weapons  of  destruction  are  becoming  so  terrible 
that  wars  have  become  very  short.  If  they  contin- 
ued longer,  all  the  combatants  would  be  destroyed. 
So  it  is  that  thino's  must  sometimes  qrow  worse 
before  they  can  be  better.  But  when  the  time 
comes  that  some  other  way  of  settling  disputes  shall 
be  found,  wars  will  be  abolished  forever  amonsj 
civilized  nations,  —  abolished  never  to  return.  The 
powerful  vis  inertice  which  has  maintained  them  so 
long  will  act  then  with  equal  force  to  prevent  them 
from  ever  coming  back.  The  long  delay  will  not 
have  been  lost,  which  was  gradually  educating  the 
human  mind  to  find  a  better  method. 

The  same  law  of  inertia  applies  to  the  develop- 
ment of  character,  to  the  correction  of  bad  habits, 
to  the  formation  of  good  ones.  Young  people  are 
apt  to  suppose  that  they  can,  whenever  they  choose, 
leave  off  a  wrong  habit  and  form  a  right  one,  by 
merely  taking  a  resolution.  They  discover  that 
they  have  faults,  and  honestly  desire  to  correct 
them,  A  young  girl  sees  that  she  has  a  quick 
temper,  that  she  is  impatient,  and  she  determines 
that  she  will  henceforth  never  use  a  hasty  or  angry 
word.  Having  made  this  good  resolution,  she  finds 
before  the  day  is  over  that  she  has  fallen  into  the 
same  ill-temper  as  before,  and  said  the  same  unkind 
things.     So  it  is  with  other  bad  habits,  —  vanity. 


VTS  INERTIA  IN  NATURE  AND  LIFE.      295 

untruth,  self-indulgeuce,  selfishness,  passion.  We 
resolve  to  break  away  from  them,  but  the  resolution 
has  no  apparent  effect.  Then  we  say,  "  It  is  of  no 
use.  I  have  tried  in  vain.  I  have  resolved,  and  I 
have  not  been  able  to  keep  my  resolution." 

To  a  person  who  speaks  thus  I  should  say,  "It  is 
not  only  often  true  that  you  cannot  conquer  a  bad 
habit  by  a  resolution,  but  it  is  a  good  thing  that 
you  cannot  do  so.  If  a  bad  habit  could  be  overcome 
in  a  moment  by  a  single  resolution,  a  good  habit 
might  be  lost  in  a  moment.  If  a  man  could  change 
his  character  by  a  determination,  that  would  show 
he  had  no  character  to  change.  But  this  does  not 
l)rove  that  a  resolution  to  do  right  is  useless.  A 
rio-ht  purpose,  a  good  determination,  is  an  important 
step ;  it  places  us  in  the  right  direction." 

The  power  of  inertia  in  morals  makes  it  difficult 
to  begin,  but  easy  to  go  on.  The  harder  it  is  at 
first  to  form  a  good  habit,  the  more  sure  we  are 
that,  when  formed,  it  will  last.  The  real  difficulty 
is  in  the  beginning.  As  we  go  on  we  acquire 
more  power  to  keep  in  the  right  way.  If  tlie  vis 
ineriice  in  Nature  is  a  good  thing,  being  really  an 
outcome  of  the  larger  law  which  preserves  all  tlie 
forces  of  the  universe,  why  is  not  the  vis  inertice 
of  the  soul  a  good  thing?  Instead  of  being  dis- 
couraged because  it  is  hard  to  build  up  good  habits 
and  a'^good  character,  we  ought  to  be  thankful  for 
this,  as  a  sure  evidence  that  when  formed  they  wiU 
last. 


296  E  VER  Y-DA  Y  RELIGION. 

What  theologians  have  called  natural  depravity 
is,  I  suppose,  only  the  vis  inertice  of  the  soul,  the 
inert  force  waiting  to  be  roused  and  turned  in  the 
right  direction.  The  more  innate  power  in  any 
soul  to  do  right,  the  greater  is  often  the  difficulty  in 
its  first  efforts.  That  is  why  we  so  often  read  in  the 
biographies  of  great  saints,  like  Saint  Augustine  or 
Saint  Francis  of  Assisi,  that  their  early  life  sliowed 
no  trace  of  the  power  of  goodness  which  was  in  them. 
It  was  hard  at  first  to  move  tliem  toward  goodness ; 
but  when  they  began  to  move  nothing  could  arrest 
their  progress. 

.One  of  the  most  upright,  generous,  brave  souls  of 
the  last  generation  was  Isaac  T.  Hopper.  He  was 
a  man  full  of  the  energy  of  goodness ;  he  had  none 
of  those  "  half  virtues  which  the  world  calls  best." 
Though  as  a  man  he  was  bold  as  a  lion  to  defend 
the  oj)pressed,  the  downtrodden,  the  fugitive,  at  any 
cost  and  risk  to  himself,  when  a  boy  he  showed  no 
such  traits.  He  was  self-willed,  passionate,  and  hard 
to  control.  Out  of  a  rugged  and  difficult  soil  sprang 
up  one  of  the  noblest  characters. 

Now  I  do  not  mean  to  fall  in  with  the  foolish 
fashion  of  describing  "  bad  boys  "  as  though  they 
were  to  be  admired.  I  do  not  consider  a  loy  or 
a  girl  to  be  a  fit  subject  for  biography  because  in- 
docile, impudent, and  disobedient.  I  think  the  stories 
of  this  sort  which  we  have,  are  false  in  their  spirit 
and  dangerous  in  their  tendency.  There  is  enough 
of  impertinence  and  irreverence  in  American  boys 


VIS  INERTIA  IN  NATURE  AND  LIFE.    297 

already ;  such  habits  do  not  need  to  be  cultivated. 
But  what  I  believe  is,  that  parents  and  teachers 
ought  not  to  be  discouraged  because  children  may 
not  be  teachable  or  easily  led  wliile  young,  or  be- 
cause they  resist  the  efforts  made  to  impress  good 
ideas  upon  their  minds.  These  children,  at  first 
unmanageable,  may  have  in  them  a  fine  inert  force, 
which  will  afterward  show  itself  in  an  admirable 
development  of  character.  Surround  them  with 
love,  lead  them  into  truth,  show  them  that  you  trust 
in  them,  and  that  you  expect  them  to  do  riglit  and 
be  right.  So  you  will  retain  their  confidence,  so 
you  will  prevent  them  from  being  discouraged,  and 
eventually  you  may  find  their  reluctance  and  resist- 
ance gradually  changing  into  what  you  desire  for 
them. 

A  remarkable  illustration  of  what  I  have  been 
saying  is  to  be  found  in  the  "Autobiography  of 
Anthony  Trollope."  Here  was  one  who  during  the 
first  seventeen  years  of  his  life  seemed  to  be  the 
most  stolid  and  incapable  of  boys.  He  w^as  almost 
as  unpromising  as  Walter  Scott,  who  was  one  of  the 
dullest  children  of  his  generation.  Trollope  was  at 
school  twelve  years,  studying  Latin  and  mathemat- 
ics, and  the  result  was  that  he  did  not  know  his 
multiplication  table,  and  could  not  translate  the 
easiest  Latin  sentence ;  his  spelling  and  handwriting 
were  both  poor.  Some  more  years  he  spent  in  the 
post-office,  doing  nothing  but  copying  papers,  and 
copying  them  badly.     But  all  this  turned  out  to  be 


298  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

the  evidence  not  of  stupidity,  but  of  a  vast  inert 
power.  As  soon  as  he  had  a  real  opportunity,  and 
was  thrown  on  his  own  resources,  he  began  to 
develop  enterprise,  determination,  invention,  and  the 
most  irresistible  strength  of  purpose.  He  wrote 
and  published  several  novels  which  were  dead  fail- 
ures ;  but,  undiscouraged,  he  went  on  till  he  achieved 
a  success.  Meanwhile  he  w^orked  steadily  in  his 
business,  and  proved  himself  capable  and  useful 
in  the  post-office.  The  Latin  language,  wdiich  had 
defeated  him  at  school,  he  attacked  in  manhood,  and 
mastered  it  so  well  as  to  be  able  to  read  Latin  books 
with  pleasure.  In  this  case  we  have  an  example  of 
the  law  of  inert  force  in  the  soul ;  powers  hard  to 
set  in  motion,  but  acquiring  great  momentum  when 
once  exerted. 

But  now  you  may  ask,  "How  shall  w^e  change 
this  inertia  into  active  force  ?  We  have  seen  that 
a  good  resolution  is  not  enough ;  a  single  effort  is 
not  enough.  How  shall  those  who  find  it  hard  to 
overcome  mental  torpor  and  moral  sluggishness, 
weak  purposes,  bad  habits,  succeed  in  changing 
these  into  a  forward  and  upward  movement?  What 
shall  make  us  grow  up,  in  all  things,  into  the 
beautiful,  the  good,  the  true?" 

Tlie  first  step,  evidently,  is  taken,  when  w^e  feel 
the  need  of  being  different  from  wdiat  we  are.  So 
long  as  we  are  self-satisfied,  there  can  be  no  progress. 
Plants  grow  without  an  effort,  but  the  growth  of  the 
human  soul  requires  the  longing  for  something  better, 


VIS  INERTIyE  IN  NATURE  AND  LIFE.      299 

or  what  a  German  poet  calls  "  extraordiDary,  gener- 
ous seeking."  The  old  theology  called  this  longing 
"  the  sense  of  sin,"  and  considered  it  necessary  to 
true  conversion.  Jesus  calls  it  "  a  hunger  and  thirst 
after  righteousness,"  —  which  I  think  is  a  larger 
definition.  But  it  is  plain  that  in  some  form  this 
is  the  first  step.  We  shall  never  improve  much  as 
long  as  we  think  we  are  good  enough  already. 

The  next  step  of  moral  progress  is  that  of  pur- 
pose, resolve,  determination.  But  that  this  may  not 
be  a  barren  purpose  or  empty  resolution,  it  ought  to 
be  taken,  not  in  doubt  or  fear,  but  with  hope  and 
confidence.  In  order  to  succeed  in  anything,  we 
must  expect  to  succeed.  We  need  hope  ;  hope  is 
the  great  motor  in  all  progress.  "  But  hope  which 
is  seen  is  not  hope  ; "  that  is,  our  hope  must  have 
some  motive  beyond  anything  we  already  see  in 
ourselves.  And  the  great  source  of  this  hope  is  that 
which  others  have  for  us,  —  others  wiser  and  better 
than  we.  The  mightiest  help  we  can  give  to  others 
in  an  upward  course  is  to  hope  for  them.  When 
the  wise  and  good,  out  of  a  larger  and  deeper  expe- 
rience than  ours,  knowing  all  our  faults,  yet  hope 
for  us,  then  we  begin  to  hope  for  ourselves. 

The  power  of  Christianity  seems  largely  to  con- 
sist in  this,  —  that  it  has  given  mankind  a  great 
hope.  Christ  was  a  revelation  of  God's  purpose  for 
his  children.  The  New  Testament  is  full  of  hope. 
While  it  shows  the  evil  of  sin,  it  always  inspires  a 
spirit  of  courage.     It  tells  sinners   that   God   has 


E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

chosen  them  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  to 
be  pure  and  holy  in  Christ  Jesus.  It  moves  men 
not  by  the  fear  of  hell,  but  by  the  hope  of  heaven. 
Sin  and  evil  are  the  dark  background  to  a  sunny 
landscape  where  light  and  love  shine  with  heavenly 
radiance.  TLie  New  Testament  shows  us  an  in- 
finite tenderness  in  God  to  every  child  whom  he 
has  made  ;  a  love  which  nothing  can  weary.  It 
calls  us  out  of  darkness  into  a  marvellous  light ; 
out  of  sin  into  holiness,  generosity,  purity,  love.  It 
makes  us  feel  that  we  can  do  all  things  through 
Cln^ist  who  strengthens  us.  So  we  find  in  the 
gospel  this  double  power,  —  truth,  which  shows 
us  what  we  ought  to  be ;  love,  which  shows  us  that 
we  can  be  what  we  ought,  and  that  we  can  do 
all  things  through  the  power  given  to  us  by  God. 

The  law  of  vis  incrtice  implies  that  where  there 
is  the  most  power  at  last,  there  is  the  most  diffi- 
culty at  first.  We  cannot,  then,  expect  that  this 
great  Christian  faith  in  God,  goodness,  immortalit}^, 
heaven,  is  to  come  without  effort  and  struggle.  We 
do  not  acquire  this  power  of  faith  by  reading  a  few 
books  of  theology,  or  by  a  process  of  reasoning.  It 
grows  up  by  a  long  experience  ;  it  is  developed  by 
a  continued  discipline.  As  life  goes  on,  our  faith 
ought  to  grow  deeper  every  year.  We  first  believe 
in  God  and  Christ  and  the  future  life  because  these 
seem  reasonable  beliefs.  But  as  we  live  in  them 
and  from  them  they  become  more  and  more  real  and 
certain.      We  learn  by  degrees  to  feel  the  presence 


VIS  INERTTJE   IN  NATURE  AND  LIFE.     301 

of  God  in  Nature  and  in  our  own  soul ;  we  learn  by- 
degrees  to  have  more  and  more  faith  in  Christ  as 
our  great  helper ;  we  learn  to  pray  more  and  more 
in  spirit  and  truth.  The  prayer  of  form  is  easy ; 
the  prayer  of  faith  is  one  of  tlie  greatest  efforts 
of  which  the  human  mind  is  capable. 

The  law  of  inertia,  therefore,  seems  to  apply,  not 
only  in  the  physical  order,  but  in  the  moral  and 
spiritual  order  too.  If  we  ask  what  is  its  good  and 
what  its  evil,  we  have  reached  the  result  that  it  is 
wholly  good.  It  helps  us  to  keep  what  we  gain  ; 
it  preserves  the  moral  and  spiritual  forces  of  the 
universe.  It  is  the  secret  of  progress.  It  is  the 
condition  of  the  great  ascent  of  man  from  earth  to 
heaven,  from  good  to  better,  from  imperfect  truth 
and  goodness  to  that  which  is  unchanging  and 
eternal. 


XX. 


THINK  OF  GOOD  THINGS,  NOT  OF 
BAD  THINGS. 


XX. 

THINK  OF   GOOD   THINGS,  NOT  OF   BAD 
THINGS. 


"  Whatsoever  things  are  true,  ivhatsoever  things  are  hon- 
est, whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  2mre, 
ivhatsoever  things  are  lovely,  ivhatsoever  things  are  of  good 
report  .   .  .   think  of  these  things.'' 

THE  doctrine  of  the  Apostle  here  is  that  it  is 
better  to  look  at  truth  than  at  falsehood  ;  at 
what  is  noble  than  at  what  is  mean  ;  at  purity,  and 
not  at  impurity;  at  the  beautiful,  and  not  at  the 
deformed  ;  at  goodness,  not  at  wiclvedness. 

The  reason  of  this  is  obvious.  It  is  a  law  of 
human  nature  that  men  are  influenced  by  their 
environment.  Mr.  Brace  takes  boys  from  the  streets 
of  New  York,  who,  if  they  grew  up  there,  would 
inevitably  furnish  a  large  addition  to  the  vicious 
and  criminal  classes.  He  sends  them  out  to  farms 
in  lUinois  and  Iowa,  and  they  become  useful  citi- 
zens. These  boys  are  many  of  them  the  cliildrcn 
of  vicious  people  and  criminals.  But  environment 
is  too  strong  for  heredity.     The  bad  tendencies  in 

20 


306  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

their  blood  are  overcome  by  the  purer  influences 
around  them. 

But  beside  the  outward  environment  of  good  or 
bad  influences  whicli  go  to  educate  us,  there  is  an 
inner  environment  which  is  much  more  powerful 
This  consists  of  our  own  thoughts,  our  mental 
habits,  our  intellectual  associations.  That  which  we 
love  to  think  about  reacts  on  our  character,  and  sur- 
rounds the  soul  with  a_  sort  of  Chinese  wall  which 
other  influences  can  with  difliculty  break  through. 

You  must  have  noticed  that  within  the  last  year 
or  two  we  have  had  many  accounts  of  little  bands 
of  juvenile  robbers,  —  of  children  who  have  pro- 
cured revolvers  and  have  set  up  as  brigands.  What 
can  be  the  cause  of  this  but  the  pernicious  dime 
novels  describing  boy  brigands,  and  making  heroes 
of  young  fellows  who  have  run  away  from  home 
and  have  tried  to  be  bandits  ?•  These  children  may 
have  been  surrounded  by  good  influences  at  home 
and  at  school,  but  their  hearts  and  thoughts  came 
under  the  power  of  these  silly  and  evil  stories. 

The  Bible  says,  very  wisely,  "  As  a  man  tliinketh 
in  his  heart,  so  is  he."  That  is,  a  man's  character 
is  formed  by  what  he  loves  to  think  about.  There 
are  matters  which  we  think  about  because  we  must, 
—  matters  of  business,  daily  duty,  —  but  into  which, 
oi'teu,  we  do  not^  put  our  hearts  ;  matters  which 
we  do  mechanically  and  automatically.  There  are 
other  subjects  to  which  our  thoughts  turn  of  them- 
selves,  as   the   compass    needle   which   you   have 


THINK  OF   GOOD   THINGS,  ETC.  307 

moved  from  the  north  with  your  finger  immediately 
trembles  back  when  you  let  it  go. 

Now,  it  is  what  we  think  in  our  hearts,  wliat  we 
love  to  think  about,  which  forms  our  character. 
What  is  a  miser  but  a  man  who  has  devoted  his 
thoughts  for  years  to  making  and  saving  money, 
till  at  last  it  becomes  impossible  for  him  to  think 
of  anything  else  ?  He  would  be  glad  to  use  his 
money,  to  enjoy  it,  to  give,  but  he  cannot;  his 
thoughts  have  w^orn  so  deep  a  rut  of  habit  that  he  is 
unable  to  get  out  of  it.  As  he  thinks  in  his  heart, 
so  is  he. 

We  talk  about  the  education  which  comes  from 
books,  the  culture  which  is  given  by  study,  by 
schools,  by  lectures  ;  but  the  deepest  and  strongest 
of  all  education  comes  from  the  atmosphere  of 
thought  with  which  we  surround  our  souls.  There- 
fore the  Apostle  says,  Think  of  what  is  true,  noble, 
beautiful,  good ;  not  of  what  is  false,  base,  and 
mean.  To  think  of  good  things,  good  men,  noble 
actions,  elevates  the  soul ;  to  think  of  base  and 
meaii  things  draws  it  down. 

There  is  a  kind  of  captious  criticism  which  de- 
votes itself  to  finding  errors  and  falsehoods.  In 
theology  this  method  of  work  has  been  made  a 
special  department ;  it  is  called  Polemic  theology, 
—  that  is,  warlike  theology.  You  will  find  some 
religious  periodicals  full  of  it.  They  fill  their  col- 
umns with  attacks  on  other  sects,  witli  severe 
remarks  upon  heresy  and  heretics,  and  think  that 


308  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

by  tliis  warlike  theology  they  are  helping  the  Prince 
of  Peace.  They  declare  themselves  serving  truth 
by  tljis  course.  But  we  serve  truth  best,  not  by 
attacking  error,  but  by  positive  statements ;  by 
showing  truth  itself  in  its  majesty  and  power. 
This  is  difficult ;  while  denial,  criticism,  and  fault- 
finding are  easy. 

There  is  an  opposite  theology  which  I  call  Irenic, 
or  peace-making,  theology.  It  does  not  consist  in 
compromises,  or  in  ignoring  differences,  or  even  in 
making  light  of  error;  it  does  not  say,  "  Peace,"  where 
there  is  no  peace,  but  it  seeks  first  for  the  truth 
in  all  opinions,  and  afterward  for  the  error.  The 
day  will  come  in  which  this  Irenic  tlieology  will 
prevail ;  when  Christians  will  rejoice  in  all  the  truth 
which  God  has  sent  to  man  in  other  religions, — 
rejoice  to  believe  that  mankind  has  always  wor- 
shipped God,  though  under  many  different  names, 
calling  him  Ormuzd  or  Bramah,  Osiris  or  Zeus,  or 
adoring  the  ineffable  beauty  and  majesty  of  the 
universe  without  name  or  ritual  or  creed.  The 
time  must  also  come  wheii  Christian  sects  will  lay 
aside  their  mutual  hostility  and  jealousy,  and  rejoice 
to  find  that  the  points  in  which  they  agree  are 
vastly  more  numerous  and  more  important  than 
those  in  which  they  differ.  Then,  at  last,  we  shall 
have  a  true  Catliolic  church,  —  many  members  in 
one  body.  Suppose,  in  a  city  like  Boston,  all  the 
two  hundred  churches  of  different  denominations 
should  form  one  great  organization,  united  in  the 


THINK  OF   GOOD   THINGS,  ETC.  309 

common  work  of  purifying  the  city  from  its  evils 
and  sins,  and  bringing  all  souls  to  God,  to  truth, 
and  to  love.  This  will  be  done  whenever  each  sect 
opens  its  mind  to  see  the  good  and  tlie  truth  and 
the  love  tliat  there  is  in  all  tlie  rest,  instead  of 
dwelling  on  their  supposed  errors. 

In  tlie  same  way  the  mistake  of  those  who  at- 
tack religion,  Christianity,  and  the  Bible,  is,  that 
they  fix  their  mind  on  the  errors  and  faults  in 
all  these,  and  not  on  what  they  are  doing  and  liave 
done  for  truth  and  goodness. 

It  is  so  easy  to  find  fault  I  It  is  so  easy  to  point 
out  the  errors  of  your  neighbors,  and  stop  there  ! 
But  the  question  is.  What  are  you  to  give  us  in  the 
place  of  what  you  reject  ?.  The  soul  of  man  cries  out 
for  God,  for  the  living  God.  It  is  too  great  to  be 
satisfied  with  the  things  seen  and  temporal.  For- 
ever it  looks  beyond  them  to  the  things  unseen  and 
eternal.  We,  who  believe  in  God,  in  tlie  soul,  in 
immortality,  admit  many  of  the  errors  and  evils  you 
assail ;  but  we  ask,  "  Can  you  give  us  something 
better,  more  true,  more  beautiful,  than  the  faitli  you 
despise  ? "  Do  not  feed  us  with  the  husk  of  criti- 
cism and  denial  when  we  are  longing  for  divine 
truth. 

It  is  certain  that  a  habit  of  fault-finding,  nega- 
tive criticism,  and  denial,  tends  to  decay  and  death. 
It  is  easy  to  obtain  the  applause  of  a  crowd  by 
pulling  down  wliat  men  have  been  accustomed  to 
revere.     But   such   triumphs  are  ephemeral.     Not 


310  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

the  destructive  thinkers,  but  the  creative  thinkers, 
are  honored  through  all  time  as  the  benefactors  of 
their  race. 

Analogous  to  this  destructive  criticism  which 
attacks  institutions  and  creeds  is  the  cynical  habit 
which  looks  for  evil  rather  than  goodness  in  human 
nature  and  human  life.  There  is  a  cheap  kind  of 
worldly  wisdom  which  prides  itself  on  its  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature,  wlien  it  is  only  looking  on 
the  dark  side  of  things.  This,  also,  is  a  path  which 
leads  nowhere. 

The  largeness  of  the  apostle's  mind  is  seen  in 
this  recommendation  to  look  with  interest  on 
''  whatsoever  things  "  are  true,  beautiful,  and  good. 
Some  persons  devote  themselves  to  truth  alone. 
Many  preachers  seem  to  think  it  the  only  object  of 
the  Christian  pulpit  to  expound  and  enforce  their 
peculiar  systems  of  theology  and  metaphysics. 
Others  think  that  only  what  is  beautiful  in  nature 
or  life  is  valuable,  forgetting  that  all  beauty,  even 
the  beauty  of  holiness,  has  its  roots  in  some  law, 
some  principle.  Others  tell  us  to  be  good,  to  do 
our  duty,  and  imagine  that  ethical  instruction  and 
moral  lectures  are  enough  to  help  us.  But  these 
alone,  without  faith  as  their  root,  are  lifeless.  We 
need  the  living  tree,  with  faith  as  its  root,  beauty 
as  its  bright  consummate  flower,  and  goodness  as 
its  fruit.  The  power  of  Christianity,  as  given  us 
by  Jesus,  is  that  it  combines,  in  a  perfect  harmony, 
the  true,  the  beautiful,  and  the  good. 


THINK  OF  GOOD   THINGS,  ETC.  311 

In  the  passage  quoted,  the  Apostle  unites  these 
elements,  and  tells  us  to  think  of  them,  to  fix  our 
minds  on  them  all.  "  Whatsoever  things  are  true," 
he  says,  think  of  them.  No  matter  where  tliey  come 
from,  —  from  heretic,  infidel,  pagan,  atheist,  —  if  they 
can  teach  you  anything  new  wliich  you  liave  not 
already  known,  thankfully  accept  it.  "  Whatsoever 
things  are  honest."  "  Honest "  is  not  exactly  the 
proper  word  here.  A  better  translation  would  be, 
"  Whatsoever  things  are  adorable  or  worthy  of  rev- 
erence." The  habit  of  looking  up  with  reverence 
to  what  is  above  us  is  one  of  the  cliief  moral  forces 
which  elevate  the  soul.  The  soul  which,  consumed 
by  egotism,  vanity,  jealousy,  is  unable  to  see  noble- 
ness and  revere  it,  has  lost  a  great  motive  to  prog- 
ress. The  greatest  souls  have  been  those  most 
full  of  reverence.  Shakspeare  calls  Eeverence  "  the 
angel  of  the  world."  Dr.  Spurzlieim,  one  of  the 
acutest  of  observers,  long  ago  remarked  that  one 
of  the  chief  defects  of  American  cliaracter  was  the 
want  of  reverence.  Without  Reverence,  life  loses 
one  of  its  chief  charms,  character  becomes  anguhir 
and  hard,  conduct  grows  wilful.  Dignity,  harmony, 
and  the  highest  culture  depend  on  reverence  as 
their  foundation.  "  Whatsoever  things  are  ador- 
able, noble,  divine,  reverence  them."  Eeverence  for 
these  things  opens  the  soul  to  what  is  heavenly,  and 
brings  down  God  into  our  hearts. 

How  mean  is  that  life  which  has  lost  the  power 
of  seeing  nobleness  !     Some  persons  by  conceit,  or 


312  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

jealousy,  or  envy,  close  tlieir  hearts  against  the 
sight  of  what  is  excellent.  They  live  in  a  fog  of 
detraction,  trying  to  lift  themselves  up  by  pulling 
others  down. 

The  newspapers,  with  all  the  good  they  do,  do 
us  harm  by  continually  showing  us  the  dark  side  of 
life.  The  natural  effect  of  reading  them  is  to  think 
tlie  world  made  up  of  villains.  Every  morning 
they  tell  us  of  the  evil  acts  done  in  the  world 
since  yesterday.  We  are  told  of  every  swindler, 
every  knave,  every  man  who  has  clieated  and 
robbed,  plundered  his  employers,  deceived  those 
who  trusted  him.  We  are  apt  to  forget  how  small 
a  part  such  men  make  of  the  great  mass  of  society  ; 
vv^hat  multitudes  of  happy  homes,  good  friends,  true 
and  kind  hearts,  conscientious  and  faithful  workers, 
there  are  in  the  world. 

Once  when  I  was  in  Marietta,  Georgia,  I  visited 
tlie  United  States  cemetery  where  repose  the  Union 
soldiers  killed  in  Sherman's  campaign  around  At- 
lanta. There  are  ten  thousand  in  all.  On  seven 
thousand  headstones  are  the  names  of  those  who 
lie  beneath.  But  on  three  thousand  stones  there 
is  no  name ;  no  one  knows  who  lie  there.  Nameless 
martyrs  lor  Union  and  freedom,  they  are  unmarked 
by  man  and  only  known  to  God, 

So,  in  our  human  life,  are  thousands  of  nameless 
martyrs,  who  devote  themselves  to  truth  and  duty, 
and  bless  those  around  them,  but  whose  names  are 
on  no  monument,  and  never  appear  in  the  columns 


THINK  OF   GOOD   THINGS,  ETC.  313. 

of  a  newspaper.  They  make  the  real  foundations 
on  which  our  whole  social  structure  rests.  The 
foundations  of  a  building  are  out  of  siglit.  Thus 
we  are  in  danger  of  forgetting  how  much  more  of 
good  there  is  in  the  world  than  evil,  because  evil  is 
conspicuous  and  good  is  unobtrusive. 

Paul  does  not  forget  the  every-day  virtues.  He 
tells  us  to  think  of  whatsoever  things  are  just,  pure, 
amiable,  "  of  good  report,"  everything  which  gives 
happiness  to  human  life,  which  adds  a  charm  to 
earthly  existence.  He  does  not  despise  beauty  as 
our  Puritan  fathers  did,  nor  undervalue  the  lighter 
graces  of  our  common  homes.  Whatsoever  things 
are  "well  spoken  of"  seemed  to  him  to  have  some 
element  of  worth.  He  did  not  depreciate  earthly 
goodness  as  "  mere  morality,"  or  think  that  whatever 
was  popular  must  necessarily  be  bad.  He  believed 
that  men  really  like  good  things,  and  not  bad  things, 
and  that  popularity  itself  probably  indicates  some 
kind  of  merit. 

If  the  things  we  love  to  think  about  thus  mould 
and  influence  our  character,  is  it  not  evident  that 
when  we  love  to  think  of  God,  we  must  receive  the 
best  influences  ?  To  think  of  God  from  fear,  or  as 
a  form,  or  as  a  ritualistic  duty,  helps  us  little.  But 
when  our  thoughts  flow  upward  to  God  as  the 
all-loving  friend,  the  ineffable  tenderness  ;  tlie  power 
which  pours  into  Nature  the  abounding  life  of  spring ; 
who  is  seen  in  all  the  glory  of  summer  skies,  in  the 
immeasurable  smile  of  ocean,  and  the  living  solitude 


314  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

of  the  Adirondack  woods  ;  in  noble  friendship  and 
generous  love,  —  when  he  comes  to  us  as  the  per- 
sonification of  all  that  is  most  sublime  and  all  that 
is  most  lovely  in  our  human  life,  lifting  it  to  an 
infinite  value,  bestowing  on  it  an  eternal  stability, 
then  the  thought  of  him  feeds  the  soul  as  nothing 
else  does.  It  lifts  up  our  heart,  strengthens  every 
good  purpose,  consoles  us  in  every  sorrow,  gives  us 
a  power  not  our  own  to  cleave  to  right,  and  thus 
feeds  the  soul  from  its  centre  with  what  is  best. 
This  is  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  Jesus  called  "  a  well 
of  water,  springing  up  into  eternal  life  "  in  the  human 
heart. 

We  are  sometimes  asked  tauntingly,  and  some- 
times sorrowfully,  "  How  can  any  one  know  whether 
there  is  a  God  ? "  The  idea  of  God  is  in  every 
human  mind,  and  so  deeply  planted  that  it  cannot 
be  eradicated.  We  have  within  us  the  idea  of  the 
infinite  and  the  eternal,  though  we  have  seen  only 
what  is  finite  and  temporal.  The  universe  is  in- 
finite and  eternal.  We  can  conceive  of  no  limits  to 
its  extent  and  no  bounds  to  its  duration.  We  have 
in  our  minds  the  great  conceptions  of  universal  law, 
of  infinite  causation,  of  an  everlasting  distinction 
between  right  and  wrong,  and  these  are  above  all 
earthly  experience.  These  conceptions  are  united 
in  the  idea  of  God,  above  all,  through  all,  and  with- 
in all  things.  And  we  are  compelled  by  our  reason 
to  see  unity  in  all  things.  We  do  not  live  in  a  chaos 
of  drifting  atoms,  but  in  a  cosmos  of  order  and  unity. 


THINK  OF  GOOD  THINGS,  ETC.  315 

Hence  the  conception  of  God  is  fixed  in  every  liu- 
man  soul. 

But  we  may  know  God  without  knowing  that  we 
know  him,  or  we  may  know  him  consciously.  To 
pass  to  the  conscious  from  the  unconscious  knowl- 
edge of  God  is  the  beginning  of  the  higher  life. 
This  knowledge  of  God  comes  through  experience, 
like  other  knowledge.  It  is  by  loving  to  do  his 
will,  loving  to  think  of  him  in  all  things,  loving  to 
bear  what  he  sends,  feeling  his  presence  in  Nature 
and  life,  seeking  his  help  for  duty,  his  support  in 
trial,  that  we  come  to  know  him.  We  know  him  by 
intercourse.  It  is  by  loving  him  that  God  becomes 
to  us  a  reality,  an  object  of  knowdedge. 

We  are  also  asked,  "  How  do  you  know  that  God 
is  a  personal  friend,  and  not  a  mere  blind  power, 
working  unconsciously  in  Nature  ?  "  I  answ^er  that 
God,  who  by  the  very  definition  of  the  term  is  the 
highest  of  all  beings,  and  the  cause  of  all  existence, 
cannot  be  lower  and  less  than  what  he  has  made. 
Human  personality  is  the  most  mysterious,  the  most 
certain,  and  the  greatest  fact  in  Nature.  It  com- 
bines in  a  perfect  conscious  unity  thought,  love,  and 
will.  This  conscious  unity  of  purpose,  knowledge, 
and  desire  makes  man  the  master  of  the  world.  If 
God  is  only  an  impersonal  force,  like  those  forces  of 
Nature  which  we  call  blind,  he  is  in  this  respect 
inferior  to  man,  whom  he  has  made. 

Man's  personality  is  the  image  and  revelation  of 
the  divine  personality.     The  highest  person  who 


316  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

has  ever  appeared  on  earth,  who  combined  in  a  per- 
fect harmony  more  of  wisdom,  of  power,  and  of  love 
than  any  other,  is  thus  the  best  revelation  of  the 
personality  of  God.  Therefore  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
is  "  the  brightness  of  God's  glory  and  the  express 
image  of  his  person."  He  is  not  the  personal  God, 
but  the  express  image  of  that  personality.  His  in- 
finite compassion  for  man,  his  heavenly  generosity, 
his  sublime  devotion  to  truth  and  goodness,  are  the 
best  revelation  of  God  to  the  heart.  They  bring  us 
near  to  him.  He  who  has  seen  Jesus  has  seen  the 
Father,  and  is  helped  to  come  into  direct  communion 
with  him. 

Our  friend,  Edward  Hale,  has  given  us  a  favorite 
maxim,  "  Look  up,  and  not  down."  This  is  the 
moral  of  what  I  have  been  saying  here.  Love 
to  think  of  what  is  true,  good,  excellent,  in  every- 
thing and  in  every  one,  rather  than  what  is  false, 
wrong,  and  evil.  These  thoughts  give  us  strength 
and  peace,  and  are  the  source  of  true  life.  To 
do  this  brings  us  to  God,  and  to  know  God  and 
Jesus  whom  he  has  sent  is  life  eternal.  If  there  be 
any  good  anywhere,  think  of  it.  If  there  be  any 
goodness  anywhere,  think  of  it.  And  to  think  of 
these  aright,  think  of  Him  from  whom  all  goodness 
comes  and  to  whom  all  goodness  tends. 


XXI. 

THE   SIN  WHICH  BESETS   US,  AND   THE 
GOOD   WHICH  HELPS   US. 


XXI. 

THE   SIN   WHICH   BESETS   US,  AND   THE 
GOOD   WHICH   HELPS   US. 


*'  The  sin  which  easily  besets  iis." 

THE  Greek  word  which  is  here  translated  "besets," 
occurs  only  once  in  the  New  Testament,  and 
probably  means  "  that  which  insidiously  surrounds 
or  encircles  one."  The  writer  is  comparing  the 
Christian  life  to  a  race,  and  to  run  this  race  it  is 
necessary  to  lay  aside  every  weight  and  the  habits 
which  hamper  one's  movements.  The  man  who 
was  to  run  a  race  in  the  Greek  or  Iioman  games 
laid  aside  the  outer  cloak  which  encircled  his  body 
and  which  would  have  impeded  his  course.  There- 
fore the  writer  says  to  Christians,  "  In  running  the 
Christian  race,  lay  aside  every  impediment,  —  the 
weights  which  would  keep  you  back,  the  sins  which 
would  entangle  you  like  an  outer  cloak,  —  and  then 
you  can  run  more  freely." 

Most  of  us  have  some  besetting  sin ;  some  temp- 
tation  which   is    harder   to  resist  than  any  other. 


320  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

Men  are  different  by  organization,  education,  and 
position,  and  thus  their  temptations  are  different. 
The  greatest  and  best  men  have  some  tempta- 
tion which  attacks  them  most  readily  and  con- 
stantly. The  saint  has  his  peculiar  temptations  no 
less  than  the  sinner. 

In  fact,  every  good  quality  a  man  has,  by  nature 
or  grace,  will  run  into  a  fault,  unless  balanced  by 
some  antagonist  quality  or  principle.  You  would 
be  apt  to  say  that  one  could  not  be  too  conscien- 
tious. That  is  true.  But  he  may  have  an  unbal- 
anced conscience,  an  uninstructed  conscience,  a 
too  scrupulous  conscience,  an  irritable  conscience. 
Paul's  unenlightened  conscience  made  him  think  that 
he  verily  ought  to  persecute  the  Christians.  Many 
other  persecutors  since  his  day  have  verily  thought 
that  they  were  serving  God  and  doing  their  duty 
in  persecuting  heretics.  Their  conscience  was  un- 
educated. I  have  known  people  who  were  so  con- 
scientiously afraid  of  doing  wrong  that  they  did 
not  venture  to  do  right.  They  had  a  negative  con- 
scientiousness. Others  have  an  irritable  conscience. 
They  are  always  tormenting  themselves  about  their 
sins,  sifting  their  motives,  creating  imaginary  sins 
for  themselves  and  others.  To  them  the  preacher 
referred,  I  suppose,  when  he  said,  "  Be  not  righteous 
overmuch.  Why  shouldst  thou  destroy  thyself?" 
The  difficulty  in  such  cases  is  that  the  conscience 
acts  in  too  solitary,  independent,  and  unbalanced 
a   way.     Instead   of  being   a   constitutional   king, 


THE  SIN  WHICH  BESETS  US.  321 

governing  by  an  organic  law,  it  is  a  despot,  ruling 
by  will.  It  needs  to  be  balanced  by  an  enlightened 
intellect  and  a  hopeful  faith. 

If  even  conscience  may  thus  become  a  tempta- 
tion, much  more  may  other  good  qualities.  Sym- 
pathy, good-nature,  kindliness,  are  excellent  powers, 
which  soften  and  sweeten  life.  Only,  if  not  held 
upright  by  the  love  of  truth  and  justice,  they  may 
make  us  too  soft  and  too  yielding.  A  sympathetic 
person  feels  so  strongly  the  claims  of  those  who 
are  present  and  around  him,  that  he  may  forget 
what  he  owes  to  others  who  are  absent.  When  he 
meets  you  to-day,  he  will  become  so  interested  in 
you  as  to  break  the  promise  he  made  to  me  yester- 
day. With  him  the  absent  have  always  less  claim 
than  those  who  are  present.  The  temptation  of  a 
good-natured  man  is  to  break  his  promises,  not  to 
keep  his  engagements  ;  to  give  away,  on  the  spur  of 
the  moment,  what  really  belongs  to  some  one  else. 
Goldsmith,  in  his  comedy  of  "  The  Good-Natured 
Man,"  has  described  this  weakness. 

Hopefulness  is  another  noble  quality.  It  ani- 
mates to  great  actions,  stimulates  to  enterprise,  is 
the  motive  to  endeavor,  and  the  cause  of  wonder- 
ful successes.  Without  this  element  of  hope,  there 
would  be  no  progress,  and  life  would  lose  much  of 
its  sunshine  and  charm.  But  hope,  unbalanced  by 
prudence,  by  caution,  by  sound  judgment,  is  the 
source  of  rash  speculation,  wild  adventure,  and  a 
confidence  \^hich  trusts  in  luck  rather  than  in 
21 


322  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

industry  and  faithful  continuance  in  well-doing. 
The  hopeful  man  is  tempted  to  take  things  for 
granted ;  and  taking  things  for  granted  is  the  source 
of  much  failure  and  misery. 

Eeverence,  as  we  have  already  seen,  is  a  beauti- 
ful and  elevating  attribute  of  the  human  soul.  The 
root  of  religion,  it  inspires  worship,  it  creates  en- 
thusiasm for  goodness  and  beauty ;  it  is  the  source 
of  a  lovely  modesty ;  it  carries  with  it  an  ineffable 
charm  which  gives  harmony  to  life.  Those  des- 
titute of  reverence  are  apt  to  be  harsh  and  abrupt 
in  their  manners,  coarse  in  fibre,  egotistical  and 
obstinate  in  character.  And  yet,  out  of  an  un- 
balanced reverence  has  come  every  kind  of  super- 
stition,—  a  blind  idolatry  for  the  past,  deference 
to  custom,  and  hatred  to  reform.  It  is  the  cause  of 
the  most  narrow  kind  of  conservatism,  which  says, 
"  Whatever  is,  is  right." 

But  the  reformer,  in  whom  the  organ  of  rever- 
ence is  unusually  small,  has  his  own  temptations  too. 
He  is  prone  to  despise  the  past,  to  destroy  any  ex- 
isting institution  simply  because  it  exists.  Instead 
of  saying,  "Whatever  is,  is  right,"  his  motto  and 
maxim  often  runs,  "  Whatever  is,  is  wrong."  The 
experience  of  centuries  goes  for  nothing  with  such 
a  man ;  he  is  ready  to  pull  down  established  insti- 
tutions, to  overthrow  ancient  creeds,  to  attack  the 
convictions  of  mankind,  on  the  strength  of  the  last 
notion  which  has  happened  to  come  into  his  head. 
It  is  under  the  lead  of  such  men  that  reform  passes 


THE  SIN   WHICH  BESETS   US,  323 

into  destructive  revolution;  and  that  " altars  are 
spurned,  thrones  insulted,  order  mocked  at,  and  law 
defied." 

Thus  we  might  go  on  and  show  how  temptation 
attacks  us  through  our  best  tendencies ;  how  every 
one  has  the  defects  of  his  qualities,  and  liow  no 
virtue  is  able  to  stand  alone.  Every  unbalanced 
virtue  drifts  insensibly  into  a  vice.  Unbalanced 
courage  ceases  to  be  courage,  and  becomes  rashness; 
unbalanced  caution  is  not  caution,  but  timidity. 
The  unbalanced  love  of  excellence  changes  it  into 
a  mad  ambition. 

What  is  higher,  what  more  all-inclusive,  than 
love  ?  One  apostle  says  of  love,  that  it  fulfils  every 
commandment  and  comprehends  every  duty.  An- 
other tells  us  that  he  who  loves  dwells  in  God,  and 
God  in  him.  Saint  Theresa,  that  best  flower  of 
Spain,  "  in  the  midst  of  all  her  terrors  of  sin,  could 
find  nothing  worse  to  say  of  Satan  himself  than 
this,  '  Poor  wretch  !  he  is  unable  to  love  ! '  and  her 
only  idea  of  hell  was  of  a  place  whence  love  was 
banished."  And  yet,  if  love  be  not  joined  with 
truth,  it  ceases  to  be  love.  It  loses  its  purity,  its 
energy,  its  power  to  correct  and  reform  the  world, 
and  passes  into  some  form  of  weak  concession,  of 
passive  sympathy.  We  see  in  the  wonderful  maj- 
esty of  Jesus  how  in  him  truth  and  love  were  in 
perfect  harmony,  neither  of  them  more  apparent 
than  the  other.  His  was  the  truth  spoken  in  love, 
the  truth  acted  in  love.     In  him  mercy  and  truth 


824  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

met  together,  righteousness  and  peace  kissed  each 
other. 

But  noAvhere  else,  not  even  in  the  apostles,  do  we 
find  such  perfect  harmony.  Peter  and  Paul  had 
each  his  own  besetting  sins,  his  own  peculiar  temp- 
tations. Peter  was  bold,  hasty,  impetuous,  rash; 
and,  like  other  hasty  men,  he  had  to  pay  the  penalty 
by  sometimes  recanting  what  he  had  said.  Such  a 
man,  under  a  strong  impulse,  will  scale  a  height 
which  he  is  not  capable  of  maintaining.  Under  the 
excitement  of  his  Master's  arrest,  Peter  was  bold  as 
a  lion,  and  drew  his  sword  and  smote  the  servant 
of  the  High  Priest.  Afterward,  calmed  down  by 
finding  himself  alone  among  his  Master's  enemies, 
afraid  of  ridicule  if  he  confessed  the  truth,  he  denied 
that  same  Master  whom  just  before  he  had  been 
ready  to  defend  with  his  life.  When  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Cornelius,  and  seeino-  how  good  a  man  this 
heathen  was,  he  rose  for  an  hour  to  the  heis^ht  of 
the  universal  religion  of  Christ,  and  declared  that 
"  in  every  nation  he  who  feared  God  and  wrought 
righteousness  was  accepted  of  him."  But  afterward, 
in  the  presence  and  under  the  influence  of  bigoted 
Jews,  he  relapsed,  and,  according  to  Paul's  account, 
dissimulated  his  real  opinion,  and  refused  to  admit 
Gentiles  to  full  communion.  His  temptation  was 
to  yield  too  much  to  the  influences  around  him, 
and  to  follow  the  impulse  of  the  moment.  Thus  he 
fell  into  inconsistencies.  Peter  was  no  hypocrite, 
he  was  the  very  opposite  of  that ;  but  he  was  some- 


THE  SIN  WHICH  BESETS   US.  325 

times  inconsistent.  And  I  think  you  will  every- 
where find  ten  or  a  hundred  inconsistent  Christians 
where  you  discover  one  hypocrite. 

Very  different  were  the  characteristics  of  the 
Apostle  Paul,  and  his  temptations  were  of  another 
order.  Paul  was  a  man  of  fixed  ideas,  wlio  lived 
to  propagate  his  own  convictions  of  truth.  To 
preach  these  ideas,  this  new  gospel,  was  his  life. 
"  The  life  I  now  live,  I  live  by  faitli  in  the  Son  of 
God."  "  Woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel." 
The  very  suggestion  that  he  might  be  mistaken 
about  the  resurrection  filled  him  w4tli  horror.  "  If 
in  this  life  only  we  have  hope  in  Christ,  we  are  of 
all  men  the  most  miserable."  He  could  not  w^ork 
with  those  who  did  not  believe  as  strongly  as  him- 
self He  therefore  left  Judea  and  the  Jews  to  tlie 
apostles,  and  took  the  whole  Gentile  world  as  his 
own  dominion.  He  could  not  work  long  even  with 
Barnabas.  Pree  in  his  own  intellectual  activity, 
unfettered  by  any  past,  he  was  often  impatient  with 
those  whose  minds  were  more  limited  than  his  own. 
When  he  went  for  the  first  time  to  Jerusalem,  and 
met  the  other  apostles  there,  he  was  apparently 
disappointed  by  the  limitation  of  their  thoughts. 
"  Those  who  seemed  to  be  something,"  he  says, 
"  added  nothing  to  me  in  conference."  Who  these 
were  he  tells  us  shortly  afterward.  He  says  that 
when  James,  Peter,  and  John,  who  seemed  to  be 
pillars,  perceived  the  grace  given  to  him,  they  gave 
to  him  and  Barnabas  the  right  hand  of  fellowship, 


326  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

that  they  should  go  to  the  Gentiles,  and  the  other 
apostles  to  the  Jews.  Then  he  describes  how  when 
Peter  came  to  Antioch  he,  Paul,  withstood  him  to 
his  face,  because  he  did  not  walk  uprightly.  Is 
there  not  a  slight  touch  of  self-esteem  and  conscious 
superiority  in  the  expression  "  those  who  seemed  to 
be  something,"  and  in  his  saying  that  they  could 
tell  him  nothing  about  Christianity  which  he  did 
not  know  already  ?  There  lay  his  temptation,  in 
the  pride  of  intellect,  in  conscious  mental  suprem- 
acy. But  he  fought  against  this  evil.  He  often 
reminded  himself  how  he  had  persecuted  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  He  kept  before  his  mind  the  humility 
of  Jesus.  This  grand  intellect,  this  man  of  mighty 
intelligence,  sacrificed  thought  and  knowledge  on 
the  altar  of  love  ;  said  that  knowledge  was  nothing, 
love  everything ;  that  knowledge  would  pass  away, 
and  only  faith,  hope,  and  love  remain.  Among  the 
Corinthians,  a  people  of  active  intelligence,  he  de- 
clared that  God  had  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the 
world  to  confound  the  wise,  and  that  the  world  by 
wisdom  could  never  know  God.  He  tells  them  that 
when  he  came  among  them  he  laid  aside  his  wis- 
dom, his  logic,  rhetoric,  and  philosophy,  and  made 
up  his  mind  to  preach  the  simple  facts  of  Christ's 
life,  death,  and  resurrection.  "  I  determined  to 
know  nothing  among  you  but  Jesus  and  him  cruci- 
fied." "  I  fed  you  with  milk,  and  not  meat."  "  Not 
with  enticing  words  of  men's  wisdom,  but  with 
demonstration  of  tlie  Spirit  and  of  power."     Paul 


THE  SIN  WHICH  BESETS  US.  327 

knew  what  was  his  besetting  sin,  and  resisted  it  by 
a  noble  act  of  self-denial. 

It  is  curious  to  see  how  great  men  come  in  pairs, 
essentially  different  in  their  merits  and  defects,  each 
somehow  the  supplement  of  the  other.  After  Peter 
and  Paul  came  Augustine  and  Jerome,  Bernard  and 
Abelard,  Luther  and  Melanchthon,  Wesley  and  "Whit- 
field. Among  the  Greeks  what  a  contrast  between 
Aristides  and  Themistocles,  —  the  one  sternly  just, 
severely  righteous,  refusing  success  and  victory  if 
they  had  to  be  earned  by  a  single  dishonest  act;  the 
other  infinitely  adroit,  of  vast  ambition,  brave  and 
generous,  but  ready  to  take  any  advantage  whether 
right  or  wrong.  The  result  was  that  the  upright 
Aristides  was  unpopular  with  the  people.  His 
severe  integrity  made  him  enemies,  and  his  great 
services  to  the  State  were  forgotten.  Themistocles, 
on  the  other  hand,  was  admired  and  loved,  and  had 
an  unbounded  popularity  with  the  multitude.  Aris- 
tides, strong  in  his  perfect  integrity,  had  little  sym- 
pathy with  weakness.  Themistocles,  sympathetic 
and  full  of  kindly  impulse,  had  no  foundation  of 
integrity. 

John  Quincy  Adams  was  the  typical  Aristides  of 
our  time,  as  perfectly  upright  as  he,  and  quite  as 
unpopular.  He  had  such  a  despotic  conscience 
that  his  biographer  says  any  duty  had  for  him  an 
irresistible  attraction  ;  but  if  it  happened  to  be  a 
disagreeable  duty  the  attraction  became  an  over- 
whelming enthusiasm.     He  never  seemed  able   to 


328  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

escape  himself  in  his  intercourse  with  others.  He 
was  like  a  monument  which  overlooks  sea  and  land, 
grand,  immovable,  but  very  lonely. 

Thus  our  temptations  may  come  from  our  virtues 
no  less  than  from  our  vices.  The  virtues  and  vices 
often  grow  out  of  the  same  roots  ;  and  there  are 
tendencies,  good  in  themselves,  which  become  bad 
in  their  unbalanced  excess.  There  are  also  bad 
tendencies  in  the  blood,  hard  to  eliminate  by  dis- 
cipline, which  are  inherited  from  the  past.  Our 
temptations  come,  moreover,  from  habits  we  m.ay 
have  unconsciously  and  innocently  formed,  a  habit 
of  self-justification,  of  fault-finding,  of  looking  at 
the  dark  side  of  things  ;  a  liabit  of  irreverence  in 
word  or  action,  adopted  perhaps  out  of  gayety  of 
heart,  out  of  dislike  to  religious  and  moral  cant, 
but  not  the  less  dangerous  ;  a  habit  of  anxiety,  or 
one  of  procrastination,  or  of  satire  and  sarcastic 
speech ;  or  a  custom  of  talking  about  one's  self,  or 
indulgence  in  a  wilful  determination  to  have  our 
own  way  in  everything.  These  habits  are  the  sins 
which  easily  beset  us,  which  hamper  the  soul  and 
debase  it. 

Then  there  are  temptations  peculiar  to  races, 
to  nationalities,  to  occupations,  to  position.  The 
temptation  of  the  English  is  to  honor  power,  of 
the  French  to  worship  glory,  of  the  Americans  to 
admire  smartness.  The  lawyer,  the  preacher,  the 
platform  orator,  are  all  tempted  to  put  rhetoric  for 
logic,  plausible  and  persuasive  sophisms  for  solid 


THE  SIN  WHICH  BESETS  US.  329 

truths.  The  temptation  of  the  conservative  is  to 
oppose  all  reform ;  of  the  reformer  to  carry  reform 
into  revolution.  The  temptation  of  the  Orthodox 
believer  is  to  fear  progress ;  that  of  the  heretic  to 
take  pride  in  not  believing,  and  to  think  that  be- 
cause the  houses  of  our  forefathers  are  narrow  and 
disagreeable,  we  can  live  out  of  doors  with  no  liouse 
at  all. 

These  are  the  sins  which  easily  beset  us.  But 
let  us  not  forget  that  if  we  are  surrounded  by 
temptations,  God  has  with  every  temptation  opened 
a  way  of  escape.  The  influences  to  good  are  also 
within  us  and  around  us,  and  are  mightier  than 
those  which  lead  to  evil.  Where  sin  abounds,  grace 
yet  more  abounds.  Were  it  not  for  this,  life  would 
be  too  hard,  and  duty  too  difficult.  * 

First  of  all  consider  this,  —  that  man  has  the 
wonderful  faculty  of  reflection.  He  can  stand 
apart  from  himself  and  look  at  himself.  He  is 
capable  of  self-knowledge,  —  that  self-knowledge 
which  ancient  wisdom  declared  to  have  come  down 
from  heaven.  He  can  judge  himself,  discover  his 
own  faults,  acknowledge  them,  and  so  rise  above 
them  and  at  last  conquer  them.  The  first  step  is 
to  get  rid  of  self-justification  and  excuses,  to  see 
ourselves  as  we  are.  But  even  this  self-examina- 
tion must  not  go  too  far.  It  is  not  necessary  or 
desirable  to  be  always  dissecting  our  character  and 
analyzing  our  motives.  Let  us  simply  keep  a 
watch  over  ourselves,  and  when  we  go  wrong,  see 


330  ET^RY-DAY  RELIGION. 

it  and  frankly  admit  it.  This  is  confession,  and  of 
this  the  deepest  experience  has  said,  "  that  if  we 
confess  our  sins,  God  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive 
us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteous- 
ness." When  we  do  not  palliate,  disguise,  or  jus- 
tify our  faults,  but  are  willing  to  see  them  as  they 
are,  to  put  them  behind  us,  and  return  to  the  right 
way,  then  God's  forgiveness  appears  in  his  taking 
away  the  burden  of  evil.  Then  we  are  converted, 
and  become  as  little  children ;  like  little  children 
we  are  light  of  heart,  free  of  soul,  able  to  look  up, 
to  hope,  to  trust  in  the  heavenly  help  and  the  di- 
vine love.  It  is  God's  law  that  it  should  be  so  ; 
not  merely  God's  compassion,  but  his  justice  is 
pledged  to  it.  It  is  a  part  of  the  order  of  the  uni- 
verse that  he  who  is  willing  to  see  and  admit  his 
sin  shall  be  thus  inwardly  made  new. 

This  great  law  of  recovery  and  renewal  is  the  first 
good  thing  which  helps  us.  Then  comes  the  good- 
ness which  surrounds  us ;  the  good  men  and  women 
we  know  and  have  known  ;  the  good  and  noble  lives 
we  have  seen  ;  the  inspiration  of  good  books,  sacred 
Scriptures,  tender  and  noble  poems,  the  presence  of 
God  above  and  around  us ;  the  gracious  providence 
vrhich  blesses  us  day  by  day.  All  this  gives  us  faith 
in  goodness ;  and  faith  in  the  reality  and  power  of 
goodness  is  another  great  help  to  resist  temptation 
and  conquer  sin. 

There  is  also  in  human  nature  the  wonderful 
power  of  adopting  an  ideal  aim  and  pursuing  it 


THE  SIN   WHICH  BESETS   US.  331 

in  spite  of  all  obstacles.  This  power  has  l)een  tlie 
secret  of  vast  accomplishment.  A  persistent  pur- 
pose is  almost  sure,  in  the  long  run,  to  triumph. 
This  faculty  belongs  to  man.  Animals  have  a  pur- 
pose, and  act  with  an  intention ;  but,  so  far  as  we 
know,  no  animal  ever  adopts  an  ideal  aim  and  pur- 
sues it.  The  dog,  the  ant,  the  half- reasoning  ele- 
phant, pursue  the  aims  common  to  their  race,  the 
purposes  fixed  in  their  nature.  But  man  can  say, 
"  I  will  devote  my  life  to  becoming  ricli,  to  becom- 
ing wise,  to  becoming  powerful."  Or  he  may  say, 
"  I  will  make  it  the  object  of  my  life  to  grow,  to 
form  a  noble  character,  and  to  this  aim  all  others 
shall  be  secondary." 

Then,  too,  by  self-scrutiny  we  see  that  there  is  a 
power  of  goodness  within  us  by  which  w^e  may  hope 
to  conquer  evil.  Every  one  has  a  good  side,  a  ten- 
dency upward.  Total  depravity  is  an  absurdit}^  and 
an  impossibility.  And  if  there  is  hereditary  de- 
pravity, there  is  also  hereditary  goodness.  That, 
also,  has  become  a  part  of  our  blood  and  brain.  In 
every  human  being  there  is  not  only  some  peculiar 
weakness,  some  besetting  sin,  but  also  some  special 
strength,  some  element  of  power.  It  is  just  as  im- 
portant, just  as  much  a  duty,  to  find  out  tlie  good 
side  of  our  character  as  the  bad  side,  for  we  need 
this  as  an  encouragement  and  help.  For  the  same 
reason  it  is  the  duty  of  parents,  teachers,  and  friends 
to  show  children  and  youth  not  only  their  iaults, 
but  also  their  good  qualities.     Those  who  dislike  us 


332  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

can  find  our  faults ;  we  need  also  that  those  who 
love  us  should  tell  us,  not  only  what  we  ought  to 
do,  but  what  we  can  do.  If  we  all  have  some  sin 
which  easily  besets  us,  we  have  also  some  goodness 
which  is  ready  to  help  us.  And  by  encouraging  the 
good  side  of  our  life  we  conquer  the  evil. 

Another  great  and  blessed  help  is  the  society  and 
companionship  of  good  people,  of  those  better  than 
ourselves,  of  those  who  are  going  the  right  way. 
This  strengthens  in  us  everything  which  is  best. 

The  real  object  of  the  Christian  church  is  to  give  us 
good  company  ;  to  put  one  who  is  trying  to  do  right 
with  others  who  are  also  trying  to  do  right.  Jesus 
gave  the  definition  of  his  church  when  he  said, 
"  Where  two  or  three  meet  together  in  my  name, 
there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  He  does  not  say 
where  a  large  number  sit  side  by  side,  but  where 
two  or  three  meet  together.  It  is  not  a  meeting  of 
outward,  visible  contact,  but  of  inward  communion 
of  mind  and  heart.  And  "  in  his  name."  That  does 
not  mean  calling  him  Lord,  Lord  !  but  being  in  his 
spirit,  having  his  purpose,  meeting  to  do  his  work. 
If  two  or  three  unite  together  to  help  the  Lord's  poor, 
to  redeem  the  slave,  to  aid  each  other  in  growing 
better  and  wiser,  then,  though  Jesus  has  gone  up  to 
God,  his  Father  and  ours,  he  will  come  to  make  an- 
other invisible  companion  in  that  group  of  his  ser- 
vants. Many  people  try  to  get  into  good  society  ; 
they  strain  every  nerve  to  gain  another  step  in  their 
social  position.     But  the  best  society  in  the  world 


THE  SIN   WHICH  BESETS   US.  333 

is  where  good  people  unite  for  a  good  object,  for 
the  Lord  Jesus  himself  is  in  their  midst.  His 
sacred,  invisible  presence  softens  and  strengthens 
their  hearts.  This  is  the  great  blessing  of  the 
church  of  Christ,  that,  with  all  its  faults,  it  offers 
to  every  struggling  soul,  however  lowly,  forlorn,  and 
weak,  this  "  good  society,"  this  "  good  company,"  so 
that  they  are  no  longer  wholly  lonely  or  forlorn. 

Let  us  surround  our  souls  with  all  good  things,  — 
good  companionship,  good  books,  good  work,  —  for 
these  strengthen  and  encourage  the  good  side  of  our 
life. 

But  the  best  and  highest  of  all  influences  is  that 
which  comes  to  us  when  we  walk  daily  in  the  pres- 
ence of  our  heavenly  Father ;  when  we  are  able  to 
talk  with  him  as  with  a  friend ;  when  we  know  that 
he  loves  us,  and  that  his  spirit  is  ready  to  help  us. 
Plutarch  tells  us  that  Pericles,  almost  the  greatest 
of  the  orators  of  Greece,  never  went  into  a  public 
meeting  to  speak  to  the  people,  without  asking  the 
gods  to  help  him  say  the  right  thing,  and  to  keep 
him  from  saying  the  wrong.  We,  every  morning, 
enter  on  a  new  day,  in  which  we  are  to  meet  un- 
known dangers,  duties,  opportunities,  in  which  we 
may  do  good  or  evil  to  those  around  us.  What 
a  difference  it  would  make  if  we  should,  every 
morning,  look  up,  open  our  hearts,  and  seek  for 
guidance,  good  influence,  a  good  spirit,  from  that 
divine  Power  who  is  always  waiting  to  be  gracious ! 
''  Waiting  to  be  gracious ; "  waiting  till  we  give  him 


334  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

an  opportunity  of  blessing  us  ;  knocking  at  the  door 
of  our  heart  till  we  are  willing  to  open  it  to  that 
which  is  most  tender  and  blessed  in  the  universe. 
Of  all  goodness,  his  is  the  goodness  which  is  most 
ready  to  help  us.  Other  goodness  hesitates  and 
lingers.  His  is  waiting  to  be  gracious.  The  good- 
ness of  our  best  friends  sometimes  grows  weary,  but 
his  is  never  tired  out  by  our  folly  or  our  sin.  The 
best  and  noblest  human  heart  is  not  always  pre- 
pared to  meet  our  emergency ;  but  God's  love  is  at 
hand,  in  all  its  fulness,  every  hour. 

Let  us  surround  ourselves  with  all  this  human 
and  superhuman  help,  thus  to  meet  the  exigencies 
of  our  life. 


XXII. 
THE    GOOD    SAMAEITAN. 


XXII. 

THE   GOOD   SAMARITAN. 


"  Who  is  my  neighbor  ?  " 

rX^HE  lawyer  was  not  asking  this  question  for 
-^  information,  but  rather  to  find  out  what  Jesus 
would  say.  There  was  nothing  wrong  in  this. 
Jesus  himself  often  asked  questions  in  the  same 
way,  —  not  for  information,  but  to  lead  his  disciples 
to  search  into  their  own  minds.  This  is  one  way 
of  teaching,  and  a  very  ancient  one.  It  is  called 
tlie  catechetical  method  of  instruction.  Socrates 
used  it  almost  exclusively.  By  asking  a  series  of 
carefully  arranged  questions,  he  compelled  his  dis- 
ciples to  search  their  own  minds  to  the  bottom,  and 
find  out  what  they  really  knew  and  believed,  and 
what  they  did  not.  Jesus  did  the  same.  Tlius,  he 
said  to  Philip,  "Whence  shall  we  buy  bread  for 
these  to  eat  ? "  "  And  this,"  adds  the  Evangelist, 
"he  said  to  ])rovG  him,  for  he  himself  knew  what 
he  would  do."  The  word  here  translated  ^;rorc  is 
the  Greek  word  irecpd^co,  elsewhere  usually  trans- 
lated temjot.  Twenty-nine  times  it  is  translated 
tempt,  and  eight  times  examine ,  try,  prove,  assay.     It 

22 


338  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

has  a  good  or  bad  meaning,  according  to  circum- 
stances. AYben  questions  are  asked  to  mislead,  to 
confuse,  tlien  it  may  be  rendered  temj^t ;  but  when 
they  are  asked  to  bring  out  truth,  we  may  translate 
it  by  the  word  try,  or  examine.  A  lawyer,  in  court, 
asks  questions  of  witnesses,  not  always  for  informa- 
tion, but  to  try  them,  to  find  out  what  they  really 
know.  AVhen  his  object  is  to  elicit  truth,  then  he 
is  doing  right ;  but  when  he  asks  questions  in  order 
to  confuse  tlie  witness  and  throw  a  cloud  over  the 
testimony,  then  he  is  a  Satan,  a  tempter.  All  de- 
pends on  tlje  motive  and  the  method. 

I  do  not  think  that  this  lawyer  had  any  wrong 
motive  in  asking  Jesus  the  question,  "  Who  is  my 
neighbor?"  The  worst  we  can  say  of  him  is  that 
he  probably  thought  he  could  test  the  insight 
of  Jesus  by  his  acuteness,  and  found  himself  very 
soon  in  deeper  water  than  he  expected.  At  all 
events,  we  cannot  find  fault  with  him,  for  his  ques- 
tion resulted  for  us  in  a  great  good.  Tt  brought 
out  the  story  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  which  other- 
wise we  might  never  have  had. 

I  have  often  said  that  if  I  wished  to  have  a  creed, 
I  should  make  myself  one  by  taking  the  para- 
bles of  the  Prodigal  Son  and  the  Good  Samaritan. 
The  one  would  contain  my  theology,  and  the  other 
my  morality.  Most  theological  questions  may  be 
answered  out  of  the  first.  For  example :  1.  What 
is  sin  ?  It  is  to  take  your  portion  of  goods,  and 
go  off  to   spend   it  on  yourself,  away  from   God. 


THE   GOOD  SAMARITAN.  339 

2.  What  is  the  jninisJwient  of  sin?  A  miglity  fam- 
ine, and  absence  of  love;  emptiness  and  loneliness. 

3.  What  is  repentance  'I  Going  to  God,  confessing 
one's  sin,  and  wishing  to  be  his  servant.  4.  Wliat 
is  GgcU  a  father  who  loves  his  sinfni  child,  and 
cares  for  him  enough  to  come  to  meet  him  when 
he  is  a  great  way  off. 

Thus,  too,  we  can  answer  most  moral  questions 
out  of  the  parable  of  the  Samaritan. 

Notice  first  the  man  who  fell  among  thieves. 
The  man  is  the  human  soul. 

We  all  of  us  take  our  journey  from  Jerusalem 
to  Jericho,  and  we  all  fall  among  thieves.  Youth 
is  our  Jerusalem,  —  innocent  youth,  artless  child- 
hood, affectionate,  confiding,  dependent.  It  is  a 
city  in  which  God  dwells.  In  the  child's  heart 
is  the  holy  of  holies;  a  sacred  place,  seldom  en- 
tered,  but  containing  the  ark  of  tlie  covenant, — 
the  covenant  between  the  Creator  and  his  child. 
There  is  the  budding  rod  of  Aaron,  fresh  every 
morning  with  new  buds  of  hope  and  opening  flow- 
ers of  expectation.  We  pass  from  Jerusalem  to 
Jericho,  —  to  Jericho,  standing  on  the  shores  of 
the  dead  and  bitter  sea,  but  a  city  of  palms  and 
roses. 

We  all  fjo  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho.  We  leave 
our  childhood  and  our  youth  behind  us,  on  our  way 
to  the  ancient  city  where  age  and  death  are  wait- 
ing for  us,  but  where  we  may  find  the  palms  of 
immortal  life  and  the  roses  of  undying  youth. 


340  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

And  we  fall  among  thieves  by  the  way.  Life 
itself  is  a  thief,  and  steals  from  us  strength,  youth, 
beauty,  power  of  body  and  mind,  —  the  extei-nals, 
the  raiment  of  the  soul.  The  world  is  another 
thief,  and  steals  our  simplicity,  steals  our  innocence, 
wounds  us  in  its  bard  struggles,  and  leaves  us 
scarred,  hard,  and  harsh;  cold,  selfish,  and  suspi- 
cious. Sinful  habit  is  another  thief,  who  takes 
from  us  the  power  and  the  wish  to  reform,  and  so 
leaves  us  half  dead  by  the  wayside.  We  cover  up 
these  wounds ;  we  are  too  proud  to  let  it  be  known 
that  we  wish  for  sympathy  or  need  help.  Eacli 
one  knows  the  bitterness  of  his  own  heart,  but  w^e 
do  not  see  what  is  in  the  heart  of  our  neighbors. 
They  look  so  serene  and  self-satisfied  that  w^e  think 
they  are  so.  We  do  not  suppose  that  they  need  us 
at  all,  or  that  they  wish  for  any  sympathy  of  ours. 

Oh,  my  brothers  and  sisters !  as  we  look  about  us 
on  our  fellow-creatures,  let  us  think  tliat  every  one 
has  his  own  secret  sorrow.  This  will  lead  us  into 
a  broader  sympathy.  That  man,  who  seems  so  suc- 
cessful, has  his  bitter  disappointments.  You  see 
his  outward  triumphs,  —  his  offices,  his  titles,  his 
wealth ;  but  if  you  looked  into  his  lieart  you  would 
find,  perhaps,  an  aching  wound.  Perhaps  the  son, 
for  wdiom  he  labored,  whom  he  expected  to  take 
his  place  and  inherit  his  name,  was  snatched  away 
by  an  early  death,  and  wherever  he  goes  he  sees 
the  face  of  his  boy.  Perhaps  he  needs  love,  and 
that  is  the  one   thing   he  cannot   have.      Crowds 


THE   GOOD  SAMARITAN.  341 

applaud  his  eloquence,  but  he  would  give  it  all  for 
one  look  of  sincere  affection.  Perhaps  there  is  an 
undying  remorse  in  his  heart  for  one  false  step 
which  can  never  be  blotted  out  or  recalled.  See 
that  woman,  so  gay  and  witty,  the  brilliant  orna- 
ment of  every  circle  ;  she  is  perisliing  with  hunger ; 
she  has  nothing  to  live  for ;  she  has  thrown  away 
her  life,  and  does  not  know  that  if  she  will  she 
can  find  it  again,  and  tliat  Christ  can  give  it  to  her 
more  abundantly  if  she  will  really,  with  sincerity, 
come  to  him.  We  are  all  wounded,  naked,  hungry, 
half  dead,  and  all  need  the  good  helping  hand,  and 
kind  loving  eye  and  word. 

Notice  again  the  Priest  and  the  Levite. 

The  Priest  represents  formal  religion  of  all  kinds  ; 
the  religion  of  ceremony,  the  religion  of  dogma,  the 
religion  of  sentimentalism,  —  the  religions  which 
have  no  love  in  them. 

These  pass  by  on  the  other  side.  One  man  tells 
you  that  God  cannot  love  you  unless  you  have  the 
right  belief.  Another  says,  "  Join  ray  church  ;  it  is 
the  only  true  church."  But  all  this  is  the  otlier 
side  of  the  road.  We  lie  half  dead  with  our  sins. 
What  we  need  is  to  hear  a  kind  voice  and  have  a 
helping  hand  put  out  to  us.  "  Show  me,  0  Priest, 
how  I  can  escape  from  my  misery ;  how  this  hun- 
ger in  my  heart  can  be  stilled ;  how  I  can  go  back 
to  my  Father's  house !  What  do  I  care  for  creeds 
and  ceremonies  ?  I  am  cold  and  naked  and  starved  ! 
I  need  love,  truth,  God !    Bring  me  to  him  ! "    And 


342  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

the  Priest  replies,  "  What  do  you  think  about  the 
Trinity  and  Atonement  ? "  and  so  passes  on  the 
other  side. 

The  chief  difficulty  with  our  religion  is  that  it  is 
too  stiff  and  formal ;  it  is  put  away  by  itself,  as 
something  for  Sundays ;  it  does  not  show  ns  God,  as 
Paul  said,  "  not  far  from  any  one  of  ns,"  in  the  deep 
blue  sky,  in  the  glowing  sunlight,  in  the  music  and 
poetry  which  touch  our  inmost  hearts,  in  the  love 
of  a  dear  friend,  in  the  hand  which  touches  ours  in 
our  sorrow  with  a  magnetic  thrill  of  sympathy,  —  a 
hand  which  seems  to  have  in  it  the  sympathy  of 
good  men  and  women  and  the  angels.  This  is  God 
not  far  from  us.  And  if  a  better  thought  or  pur- 
pose arises  in  our  heart,  and  we  long  to  know  and 
love  God  and  goodness,  this  also  is  God,  who 
touches  the  soul,  as  the  musician  the  hard  metallic 
strings  of  his  harp,  drawing  out  of  them  a  harmony 
which  they  did  not  know  they  held.  The  harp 
stood  voiceless  and  covered  with  dust  for  years,  and 
thought  itself  without  a  voice.  But  one  day  the 
master  comes,  and  draws  from  it  symphonies  of 
celestial  joy,  and  makes  it  sing  thanksgivings  and 
allelujahs  like  those  of  heaven.  Our  heart  is  thus 
silent  and  thus  dead  till  God  touches  it;  then 
it  finds  itself  able  to  rise  into  strains  of  peace, 
courage,  hope,  love. 

The  Priest  has  come  and  gone.  Absorbed  in  liis 
dogmas  and  ritual,  he  does  not  even  see  the  dying 
man.     So  our  churches  stand  in  the  middle  of  the 


THE    GOOD  SAMARITAN.  343 

streets  in  which  youug  men  and  women  are  being 
led  away  to  evil,  and  does  not  see  them,  or  know 
anj'thing  of  them.  Such  churclies  pass  by  on  the 
other  side. 

The  Levite  does  a  little  more.  He  comes  and 
looks  on  him,  and  then  passes  by  also.  Perhaps  lie 
is  a  moralist,  an  ethical  philosopher,  or  a  pohtical 
economist,  —  a  man  whose  religion  is  made  up  of 
reason,  conscience,  and  the  law  of  duty,  but  has  no 
love  in  it. 

He  looks  at  the  man,  and  says :  "  He  put  liimself 
into  this  difficulty.  He  ought  to  liave  been  more 
careful.  If  1  help  him,  he  will  pro])ably  fall  again, 
so  it  will  do  no  good.  Perhaps  he  did  something 
to  provoke  the  robbers.  Tliere  is  usually  wrong  on 
both  sides.  He  is  very  likely  an  impostor,  who 
only  pretends  to  be  in  trouble  to  get  help  ;  or  per- 
haps he  is  a  bad  man  who  is  thus  punished  l)y 
Providence  for  his  sins,  and  I  ought  not  to  interfere 
between  him  and  divine  justice^  and,  now  that  I 
come  to  notice  it,  I  see  he  is  no  neighbor  of  mine  — 
he  is  a  heretic !  He  belongs  to  the  scliool  of 
Hillel ;  or  perliaps  he  is  a  Sadducee.  It  is  better 
for  the  world  that  he  should  die,  and  so  an  end  of 
him  and  his  heresies.  Besides,  charity  begins  at 
home.  If  I  stop  to  help  him,  the  robbers  will  very 
likely  come  back.  My  lile  is  more  valuable  than 
his.  I  think,  therefore,  it  is  my  evident  duty  to  go 
to  Jericho,  and  attend  to  my  appointments  there, 
for  I  am  already  behind  my  time." 


344  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

So  the  Levite  speaks  to  us  out  of  that  barren, 
rocky  defile,  througli  the  intervening  period  of  eigh- 
teen centuries.     Are  not  we  often  Levites,  too  ? 

The  Priest  has  gone  on.  The  Levite  has  gone 
on.  The  wounded  man  lies  still,  and  groaning  in 
his  anguish.  Minute  by  minute  he  is  growing 
weaker.  He  thinks  of  his  wife ;  and  of  liis  children 
who  are  playing  around  the  door,  all  unconscious 
of  his  misery.  His  wife  is  going  about  the  house 
busily  engaged  in  her  affairs.  He  wonders  when 
they  will  hear  of  his  death,  and  who  will  tell 
them.  He  looks  up  and  sees  a  cloud  drifting  peace- 
fully along  through  the  sky.  "  Will  no  one  go  and 
tell  them  that  I  am  dying  here  ? "  No.  The  desert 
is  silent ;  no  one  comes.  He  listens.  He  seems  to 
hear  something  like  the  step  of  a  beast  among  the 
rocks.  Yes !  some  one  approaches.  "  It  is  a  Sa- 
maritan. Only  a  man  belonging  to  the  barbarous 
infidels  who  live  at  Sychar.  He  will  do  nothing  for 
me,  a  Jew." 

But  the  Samaritan  comes  near,  and  now  the 
man  has  found  a  friend  who  does  not  think  of  tlie 
robbers,  or  the  danger,  or  the  delay  to  his  jour- 
ney, his  distance  from  his  own  home,  or  the  Jews' 
hostility  to  him,  or  whether  his  money  will  hold 
out,  or  the  thousand  other  excellent  excuses  which 
men  make  for  not  doing  their  duty.  He  is  the 
man's  neighbor  now,  for  the  man  needs  him ;  no 
matter  what  at  other  times  is  their  relation  to  each 
other. 


THE  GOOD  SAMARITAN.  345 

See  how  deep  this  man's  motive  must  have  gone. 
How  much  Jesus  has  contrived  to  tell  us  in  tliese 
few  lines ! 

Some  men  give  because  it  is  expected  of  them. 
They  never  take  the  initiative.  They  do  not  look 
out  for  opportunities.  They  wait  till  they  are 
asked,  and  till  public  opinion  requires  it.  r>ut  no 
public  opiuion  required  the  Samaritan  to  help  the 
traveller.  If  he  had  left  him  to  die,  no  one  would 
have  known  it  —  no  one  but  himself  and  God  !  It 
was  not  expected  of  a  Samaritan  to  lielp  a  Jew; 
the  Jews  had  no  dealings  with  Samaritans. 

Some  men  are  so  absorbed  in  their  own  affairs 
that  they  do  not  notice  the  needs  of  others.  AVe 
go  to  our  business  in  the  morning,  stay  there  all 
day,  come  back  tired  at  night,  do  the  same  next 
day,  and  have  no  time  to  think  of  our  neighbor. 
The  Samaritan  was  busy;  he  was  on  a  journey. 
He  had  his  own  affairs  to  attend  to.  But  he  had 
a  heart  open  and  watchful,  looking  out  for  occa- 
sions of  usefulness.  To  such  a  man  opportunities 
come. 

Some  men  are  so  slow  in  making  up  their  minds 
as  to  whether  they  ought  to  do  anything,  whether 
they  can  do  anything,  or,  if  so,  liow  they  can  do  it, 
that  the  time  and  the  need  pass  by.  But  the  Sa- 
maritan was  prompt.  One  thing  which  enables  a 
good  man  to  act  promptly  is,  that  he  does  not  have 
to  stop  and  think  how  he  is  likely  to  be  affected  by 
what  he  does.     He  simply  asks,  is  it  right?     "No 


346  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

summons,  mocked  by  chill  delay,"  finds  him  saying, 
"Come  to-morrow."  He  does  it  now,  at  once. 
Promptness,  therefore,  is  another  element  in  Chris- 
tian charity.  Do  it  to-day,  and  then  you  can  do 
something  else  to-morrow. 

Some  men  and  women  never  can  help  any  one  if 
it  involves  a  sacrifice  ;  or,  if  they  do,  they  talk  about 
their  sacrifices  until  we  wish  they  had  not  made 
any.  But  others  make  sacrifices  and  never  speak 
of  them.  I  do  not  believe  the  Samaritan  told,  after 
he  got  home,  of  his  great  loss  of  time  and  vast  out- 
lay of  two  pence  to  help  the  wounded  man.  A 
good  man  enjoys  doing  good.  If  it  costs  him  any- 
thing, it  is  so  much  paid  out  for  his  own  pleasure. 
Talk  to  him  of  his  sacrifices,  and  lie  laughs  at  you. 
These  are  his  indulgences.  That  is  why  Christian 
charity  does  not  appear  unto  men  to  fast,  but  only 
unto  its  Father  in  heaven. 

When  Jesus  told  this  story  of  the  good  Samari- 
tan, it  shocked  the  prejudices  of  the  Jews  who 
listened.  A  good  Samaritan  to  them  sounded  as  it 
would  sound  to  Christian  ears  to  speak  of  a  good 
infidel,  a  good  atheist.  It  cut  across  their  preju- 
dices, and  that  was  wliy  Jesus  selected  the  Samari- 
tan for  his  type  of  a  good  man.  The  lawyer,  when 
asked  to  say  who  was  the  poor  man's  neighbor, 
could  not  make  np  his  mind  to  say,  "  The  Samari- 
tan ; "  so  he  replied  in  a  roundabout  way,  "  He  that 
showed  mercy  on  him." 

We  see,  by  tliis  story,  that  our  neighbor  is  the 


THE    GOOD  SAMARITAN.  347 

man  whom  we  can  help.  Those  are  not  our  neigh- 
bors, who  live  near  us,  but  those  to  whom  wc  are 
brought  near  by  sympathy.  In  this  way  tlie  man 
who  is  a  thousand  miles  off  is  perhaps  more  my 
neiohbor  than  he  who  lives  next  door  to  me.  I 
make  men  my  neighbors  when  I  take  an  interest  in 
them.  The  soldiers  in  the  Crimea  were  neighbors 
to  Florence  Nightingale.  The  insane  people  in 
Missouri  or  Eome  were  the  neighbors  of  Dorothea 
Dix.  The  slaves  in  Georgia  were  neighbors  to  Dr. 
Channing.  The  men  of  Kansas  were  neighbors  to 
Charles  Sumner.  Sir  Jolin  Frankhn  and  his  crew 
were  neighbors  to  Dr.  Kane.  When  the  Poles  and 
the  Greeks  were  struggling  for  their  freedom,  we 
felt  that  they  were  our  neighbors  and  sent  them 
aid.  When  the  people  of  Ireland  were  perishing 
of  famine,  we  sent  the  frigate  "Jamestown"  fdled 
with  corn,  flour,  and  other  provision  for  their  help. 
Though  we  had  never  seen  any  of  these  people, 
they  became  our  neighbors  as  soon  as  they  needed 
our  assistance. 

Thus  it  really  depends  on  the  helper  whether 
neighborhoods  shall  exist.  Not  the  man  who  is 
to  be  helped  but  the  man  who  comes  to  help 
him  makes  the  neighborhood.  It  is  the  Samaritan 
who  was  found  to  be  the  neighbor  — not  the  Jew. 
He  who  shows  mercy  to  us  becomes  our  neighbor. 
He  who  feels  for  nl^,  though  a  thousand  miles  off, 
is  more  my  neighbor  than  the  man  I  meet  every 
day  who  does  not  care  for  me. 


348  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

Christianity,  which  CDlarges  the  soul,  makes  a 
great  neighborhood  of  maiilvind.  The  people  of 
far  Cathay  became  neighbors  to  Europe  as  soon 
as  Christian  missionaries  went  among  them  and 
brought  back  tidings  of  their  needs.  Thus  neigh- 
borhoods expand  indefinitely  like  circles  in  the 
water,  which  cross  each  other  in  all  directions  with- 
out interfering  with  or  obliterating  each  other.  We 
are  attracted  toward  those  whom  we  think  ourselves 
able  to  assist,  and  they  become  neighbors  by  sym- 
pathy. There  are  also  those  who  are  spiritually 
our  neighbors ;  those  wliose  minds  and  hearts  need 
that  help  which  we  are  able  to  render.  He  is  a 
good  Samaritan  in  the  highest  sense  who  can  pour 
oil  and  wine  into  the  wounds  of  the  soul ;  who,  by 
a  word  spoken  in  season,  of  warning,  counsel,  conso- 
lation, encouragement,  can  give  a  new  direction  to 
our  life,  awaken  within  us  the  sense  of  responsi- 
bility, show  us  how  to  trust  in  God,  and  quicken 
us  with  a  new  hope.  But  how  few  are  neighbors 
to  each  other  in  this  way.  Too  seldom  do  we 
know  what  is  passing  in  the  minds  of  others,  and 
too  often  we  distrust  our  own  power  of  helping 
them. 

Some  men  who  would  like  to  be  of  use  in  the 
world,  fail  in  their  endeavor  because  they  finish 
nothing.  Their  good  actions  are  like  Luildings 
begun  on  a  grand  scale,  butf  where  the  funds 
have  given  out  before  they  were  completed.  Such 
a  building  as  this,  begun,  but  remaining  unfinished. 


THE  GOOD  Samaritan.  849 

is  apt  to  be  called  a  man's  "  Folly."  Some  men 
do  enoiio-h  to  satisfy  their  consciences  and  tlien 
stop,  leaving  their  good  works  unfinished.  They 
have  had  the  trouble  of  attempting  to  do  good,  and 
none  of  the  satisfaction  of  accomplisliment.  So 
their  action  stands  as  their  half-built  folly.  How 
many  of  these  unfinished  good  works  we  do !  We 
work  a  little  while  for  different  objects,  —  take  our 
class  in  the  Sunday  school,  or  engage  in  a  hospital 
or  some  charity,  and  then  stop  and  say,  "  Now  I 
have  done  my  part ;  let  some  one  else  do  the  rest." 
But  Christianity  counts  nothing  done  while  any- 
thing remains  to  be  done.  The  Samaritan  miglit 
have  bound  up  the  wounds  and  then  said,  "  I  have 
done  my  duty ;  let  some  one  else  take  him  to  the 
inn."  But  his  object  was  not  to  do  his  duty,  but 
to  save  the  man.  That  is  the  difference  between 
conscience  and  charity. 

How  often,  when  we  are  asked  to  subscribe  to 
this  or  that  good  object,  we  reply,  "  This  is  an  excel- 
lent object.  I  heartily  approve  of  it,  but  the  fact 
is,  I  have  had  a  great  many  calls  lately,  and  have 
been  giving  a  great  deal.  Go  to  some  one  else." 
We  forget  that  if  we  have  been  giving  much  we 
have  also  been  receiving  much. 

The  old  Latin  proverb  says.  Qui  suadety  sua  dct,  — 
"  If  you  ask  others,  give  yourself."  A  man  who 
obeys  that  maxim,  and  who  begins  by  giving  his 
own  share,  can  then  ask  others  with  an  easy  mind, 
and  is  very  likely  to  succeed  in  his  applications. 


850  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

What  we  see,  therefore,  in  this  example  is  the 
superiority  of  love  to  all  other  motives.  It  is  Letter 
than  conscience,  because  it  never  tires  till  the  good 
is  done ;  it  is  better  than  sympathy,  for  it  remem- 
bers the  absent  as  well  as  those  present ;  it  is  better 
than  the  desire  to  save  one's  soul,  which  makes 
sacrifices  and  performs  acts  of  self-denial ;  for  it  is 
a  self-forgetful  giver. 

And,  besides  all  this,  it  is  universal.  It  makes 
no  account  of  a  man's  race,  or  creed,  or  position  in 
the  community ;  no  account  of  his  folly,  ignorance, 
or  sin.  It  does  not  ask  whether  he  was  to  blame  or 
not  for  what  he  suffers,  but  only.  Does  he  suffer,  and 
can  I  help  him  ? 


XXIII. 
BEGINNING  AT  THE  RIGHT  END. 


XXIII. 

BEGINNING  AT   THE  RIGHT  END. 


"  That  was  not  first  ivhicJi  is  spiritual,  but  that  which 
is  natural,  and  afterward  that  ivhich  is  spiritual." 

I'N  common  life  and  practice  we  recognize  the 
importance  of  beginning  at  the  right  end. 
There  are  strict,  stern  laws  in  nature  which  com- 
mand ns  to  follow  the  right  order  in  all  that  we  do ; 
which  say  "  First  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  afterward 
the  full  corn  in  the  ear."  The  farmer  must  plough 
before  he  can  sow ;  the  builder  must  lay  the  founda- 
tion before  he  finishes  the  interior;  the  artist  must 
make  his  sketches  before  he  paints  his  landscape ; 
the  physician  must  begin  with  a  study  of  symptoms 
before  he  proceeds  to  his  indications  of  cure;  the 
lawyer's  brief  must  be  prepared  before  he  can  argue 
his  case.  If  you  propose  to  build  a  railroad,  you 
begin  by  making  your  surveys  and  selecting  your 
route.  In  the  domain  of  external  nature  every- 
thing must  be  in  its  own  order,  —  this  thing  first 

and  that  second. 

23 


354  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

When  we  come  to  work  done  in  the  soul  of  man, 
the  same  is  true.  The  same  haw  of  method  applies, 
and  it  is  because  we  do  not  see  clearly  the  mental 
and  moral  processes  in  the  human  mind  that  we 
fail  to  perceive  this  fact.  Mistakes  and  harm  come 
from  trying  to  do  the  second  thing  before  we  have 
done  the  first,  and  not  taking  everything  in  its  own 
order. 

The  law  of  mental  progress  is  that  one  should 
begin  ^nth  the  easy  and  go  on  to  the  difficult ;  be- 
gin with  the  simple,  and  proceed  to  tlie  complex ; 
beo'in  with  the  concrete  fact,  and  o-o  on  to  the  ab- 
stract  law ;  become  familiar  with  the  first  step 
before  proceeding  to  the  second.  When  this  law  is 
neglected  in  education  the  result  is  unfortunate. 
If  you  try  to  teach  little  cliiklren  the  abstractions 
of  grammar,  of  logic,  of  history,  instead  of  simple 
facts  and  laws,  you  stupefy  the  poor  things ;  you  do 
not  teach  them.  You  can  compel  them  to  repeat, 
by  rote,  abstract  rules,  and  to  give  learned  answers 
to  your  questions  ;  but  the  little  child  does  not  learn 
anything.  He  is  repeating  words  without  sense. 
But  when  you  begin  at  the  right  end  in  teaching, 
and  follow  the  method  of  nature,  how^  fast  and  how 
gladly  the  child  learns !  Each  new  acquisition  of 
knowledge  connects  itself  with  wdiat  went  before, 
and  grows  naturally  out  of  it,  roots  itself  naturally 
in  it.  Having  taken  the  "first  step,  the  second  be- 
comes easy,  and  then  the  third  follows  as  a  matter 
of  course. 


BEGINNING  AT  THE  RIGHT  END.        355 

The  best  illustration  of  this  is  matliematics.  ir(jw 
incredible  it  seems  tliat  man  should  be  able  to  cal- 
culate an  eclipse  a  thousand  years  beforehand  ;  to 
measure  the  distance  of  the  sun  and  stars ;  to  weigh 
the  planets  in  scales,  and  the  moon  in  a  balance  ;  to 
survey  the  pathless  march  of  a  comet  i'rom  outside 
darkness  till  it  falls  toward  the  sun.  The  North 
American  Indian  tracks  his  foe  through  the  woods 
by  the  slight  indications  of  a  broken  twig  or  a  stone 
turned  over  l)y  the  foot.  But  the  astronomer  tracks 
his  planet,  as  it  pursues  its  way  through  space, 
where  no  eye  has  ever  seen  it,  and  where  it  leaves 
no  visible  trace  of  its  path,  —  he  tracks  it  by  the 
slight  quivering  produced  by  its  attraction  on  an- 
other planet,  one  hundred  millions  of  miles  away. 
Now,  this  is  all  done  by  beginning  at  the  right  end ; 
by  first  adding  one  to  two,  and  then  two  to  three. 
It  is  by  taking  a  great  many  steps,  each  one  of 
which  is  simple  and  easy ;  for  if  taken  in  proper 
order  each  one  prepares  the  way  for  the  next. 

Now,  when  God,  in  his  providence,  sent  Chris- 
tianity into  the  world,  he  proceeded  on  tlie  same 
plan.  He  sent  other  religions  before  it  to  prepare 
its  way.  That  was  not  first  which  was  spiritual, 
but  that  which  was  natural,  and  afterward  that 
which  was  spiritual.  The  law  was  a  schoolmaster 
to  bring  us  to  Christ.  Moses  came  first,  to  prepare 
the  way  by  his  ten  commandments ;  and  then  the 
prophets  followed,  taking  another  step  up  out  of 
the  religion  of  form  into  the  religion  of  spirit ;  and 


356  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

then  came  John  the  Baptist,  to  prepare  the  way  of 
the  Lord,  and  make  his  paths  straight ;  and  at  last, 
when  the  fuhiess  of  time  had  come,  God  sent  forth 
his  Son.  We  all  admit  that  the  religion  of  Moses 
was  preparatory  to  that  of  Christ.  But  more  is 
true.  God  did  not  disinherit  the  rest  of  the  human 
race ;  he  gave  them  their  religions  too.  Confucius 
in  China ;  Zoroaster  in  Persia ;  the  Vedas  in  India ; 
the  religions  of  Egypt,  Greece,  Eome ;  the  philoso- 
phy of  Anaxagoras,  Socrates,  Zeno,  Plato,  —  these 
were  all  stepping-stones  by  which  humanity  crossed 
the  abyss  of  darkness  and  evil,  and  came  up  toward 
the  Son  of  Man.  Inconceivably  grand  does  the 
character  of  Jesus  appear  when  thus  regarded  as 
the  summit  of  humanity,  as  the  fulfilment  of  Pagan 
as  well  as  Jewish  prophecy ;  as  the  Christ  foretold 
by  the  Gentiles  as  well  as  by  the  Jews ;  as 
"  One  far-off  divine  event, 
To  which  the  whole  creation  moves." 

God,  in  teaching  religion  to  mankind,  began  with 
primary  schools.  Confucius  taught,  in  one,  respect 
for  parents  and  superiors.  Zoroaster  taught,  in  an- 
other, to  think  purely,  speak  purely,  and  act  purely. 
Buddha  taught,  in  another,  the  immutability  of  law 
and  the  certainty  of  retribution.  We  may  even  say 
that  as  we  now  teach  little  children  by  object  les- 
sons, so  Divine  Providence  used  a  similar  method, 
and  allowed  the  infantile  mind  of  the  race  visible 
and  objective  prayers.  Men  were  allowed  to  say 
their  prayers  by  outward  sacrifices.     If  a  man  was 


BEGINNING  AT  THE  RIGHT  END.        357 

grateful,  he  offered  a  bullock  as  a  thank-offering  to 
God;  if  he  was  penitent,  he  brought  a  lamb  as  a 
sin-offering.  This  may  be  called  the  liturgy  of  the 
whole  ethnic  or  Gentile  world.  Only  the  Persians 
did  without  it,  for  they  had  their  diviner  symbols 
in  the  skies.  The  sun,  the  moon,  the  planets,  the 
flaming  star  Sirius,  —  these  made  their  ritual  ser- 
vices; the  mountains  were  their  temples,  and  an 
ever-burning  fire  their  prayer-book.  Thus  did  hu- 
manity worship,  ill  its  simple  childhood,  —  sincei  ely 
but  ignorantly;  but  when  Jesus  came,  humanity 
became  a  man,  and  put  away  childish  things.  It 
passed  out  of  object  lessons  into  books ;  out  of  the 
primary  school  into  the  grammar  scliool  and  high 
school.  The  day  for  sacrifices  and  a  sacrificial  wor- 
ship was  over.  "  Neither  in  this  mountain,  nor  yet 
at  Jerusalem,  shall  men  worship  the  Father/'  but 
only  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

But  afterward  the  Church  made  the  same  mistake 
which  we  make  in  our  schools  when  we  teach  little 
children  abstractions  instead  of  concrete  facts. 

For  example,  the  little  children  in  the  Boston 
grammar  schools  have  been  taught  till  recently  and 
perhaps  are  still  taught  such  lessons  as  these :  — 

"  A  consonant  denotes  a  contact  of  some  of  the 
organs  of  speech." 

"  Etymology  treats  of  the  true  roots  and  the  true 
and  right  forms  of  words  to  put  in  sentences  ac- 
cording to  syntax." 

"A  participle  is  a  form  of  the  word  which  merely 


358  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

assumes  the  act  or  state,  and  is  construed  like  an 
adjective." 

Most  of  the  English  grammar  taught  in  our 
schools  consists  of  such  stui3idities  as  this,  the 
knowledge  of  which  we  may  safely  say  never  did 
practical  good  to  any  human  being.  No  one  ever 
spoke  or  wrote  English  more  correctly  in  conse- 
quence of  having  committed  to  memory  such  dis- 
mal abstractions.  But  as  it  has  been  done  for  a 
long  time,  it  will  probably  continue  to  be  done  for 
a  orreat  while  lono-er.  At  all  events,  this  is  not 
the  proper  teaching  to  begin  with.  It  may  pos- 
sibly be  interesting  to  a  man  who  is  fifty  or  sixty 
years  old  to  know  that  the  "  superlative  degree  rep- 
resents the  described  objects  as  being  a  part  of  the 
others ; "  but  it  can  do  no  good,  surely,  to  a  small 
boy  to  learn  that  extraordinary  statement. 

Now,  just  as  the  school  has  put  its  little  learners 
into  these  abstractions  of  grammar,  the  Church  has 
put  its  little  Christians  into  similar  abstractions 
of  theology.  Men  inculcate  the  most  abstruse  and 
self- contradictory  doctrines  about  the  Trinity,  total 
depravity,  and  divine  decrees,  with  a  charming  sim- 
plicity, as  though  they  were  elementary  facts  of 
morals  and  piety.  Before  a  man  can  enter  the 
Church,  which  he  is  supposed  to  join  in  order  to 
learn  how  to  be  a  Christian,  he  must  already  be  a 
believer  in  these  recondite  abstractions.  This  is 
worse  than  the  schools,  for  even  the  grammar 
schools  do  not  require  a  knowledge  of  the  pluper- 


BEGINNING  AT  THE  RIGHT  END.        350 

feet  potential  as  a  condition  of  admission.  Tlic 
Church  demands,  as  a  condition  of  achnission,  faith 
in  the,  very  articles  it  proposes  to  teach. 

The  fault  I  find  with  creeds  is,  that  they  begin 
at  the  wrong  end.  There  is  no  serious  objection  to 
aged  theologians  settling  among  themselves  God's 
plan  of  salvation;  but  surely  this  is  not  milk  fur 
babes. 

The  wisdom  of  Jesus  appears  in  the  simplicity  of 
his  teaching.  He  put  his  thought  into  lovely  par- 
ables ;  stories  founded  on  life  ;  illustrations  of  truth 
taken  from  dinner-parties,  baking,  the  farmer's 
work  in  the  field,  the  woman's  work  in  the  kitchen. 
He  taught  the  loftiest  truths,  not  in  dry  abstrac- 
tions, but  in  the  hieroglyphics  of  dawn  and  night, 
of  flowers  and  birds,  of  the  instincts  of  the  dog  and 
the  swine,  the  law  of  growth  in  corn  and  vine. 
With  him,  that  was  not  first  which  was  spiritual, 
but  that  which  was  natural,  and  afterward  that 
which  was  spiritual. 

The  Apostle  'Paul  is  usually  considered  as  fond 
of  teaching  deep  and  difficult  doctrine,  but  he  was  a 
man  of  admirable  common  sense.  When  he  wrote 
what  is  to  U3  so  difficult,  you  may  be  sure  that 
those  who  received  his  letters  were  quite  able  to 
understand  his  meaning.  You  must  recollect  that 
the  Epistles  to  the  Romans,  Galatians,  and  Philip- 
pians  were  not  written  by  Paul  with  the  expectation 
that  they  were  to  make  part  of  the  sacred  literature 
of  the  human  race.     He   did    not  write  them  as 


360  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

treatises  for  all  time,  but  as  answers  to  questions, 
and  solutions  of  difficulties,  existing  in  particular 
churches.  His  plan  of  teaching  he  explains  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  He 
there  says :  I  came  not  to  you  with  excellency  of 
speech  (that  is,  rhetoric)  or  wisdom  (that  is, 
logic).  I  made  no  oration  nor  speech.  I  only 
preached  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified ;  that 
is,  the  simple  story  of  the  facts  of  the  life  and 
death  of  Jesus.  So  your  faith  was  not  founded  on 
argument  or  demonstration,  but  on  pure  conviction. 
It  was  not  theology,  but  religion.  He  says  that 
with  more  advanced  Christians  he  has  a  theology 
and  a  philosophy  of  Christianity,  —  a  philosophy 
deeper  tliaii  that  of  the  sophists  of  Greece.  But 
these  infant  Christians  he  feeds  with  milk  and  not 
meat ;  simple  facts,  not  deep  philosophy. 

The  law  of  culture  is  to  begin  at  the  beginning. 
Thus,  in  belief,  let  us  begin  at  the  beginning.  Infi- 
delity often  consists  in  thinking  that  we  ought  to 
swallow  the  last  thing  in  Christianity  before  we 
have  really  digested  the  first.  A  young  man  says 
he  is  an  infidel.  Why  ?  Because  he  cannot,  for 
example,  understand  the  story  of  Balaam's  ass,  or 
that  of  Jonah  and  the  wliale,  or  because  of  the 
apparent  contradictions  in  the  history  of  the  "New 
Testament  or  Old  Testament.  But  he  does  not 
refuse  to  accept  Greek  and  Roman  history  because 
of  similar  contradictions  and  obscurities.  He  be- 
gins with  the  plain  and  consistent,  and  leaves  the 


BEGINNING  AT  THE  RIGHT  END.       3G1 

rest  to  follow.  I  have  had  little  boys,  ten  and 
twelve  years  old,  come  to  me,  much  troubled  in 
mind,  and  thinking  that  their  religion  was  givino- 
way,  because  they  could  not  reconcile  divine  fore- 
knowledge and  human  freedom.  But  tliere  is 
enough  in  Christianity  which  is  plain.  Take  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  take  the  parables  of  the 
Talents,  and  the  Prodigal  Son,  and  the  Good  Samar- 
itan. What  sliould  you  say  of  your  son  if  he 
should  renounce  his  multiplication  table  because 
he  could  not  comprehend  La  Place ;  who  should 
proclaim  himself  an  infidel  to  the  Pule  of  Three 
because  of  obscurities  in  Newton's  Principia  ? 

Begin  at  the  beginning ;  believe  first  that  which 
is  simple ;  make  that  thoroughly  3'our  own,  carry  it 
out  in  action  and  life,  and  leave  the  five  points  of 
Calvinism  till  you  are  forty  or  fifty  years  old ;  the 
brain  does  not  grow  too  dry  for  those  husks  at  any 
period  of  life. 

We  all  ought  to  be  doing  something  for  our 
Master  and  his  cause.  How  can  we  call  ourselves 
Christians  if  we  merely  live  on,  getting  and  spend- 
ing, dressing  and  eating,  amusing  ourselves,  reading 
novels,  and  so  drift  through  life  ?  Suppose  a  man 
wishes  to  be  a  Christian,  how  shall  he  set  about 
it  ?  Shall  he  go  from  church  to  church  ?  shall  he 
wait  for  a  revival  ?  shall  lie  struggle  to  go  through 
some  great  change  ?  No.  He  must  do  what  he 
can.  He  must  repent  as  the  Prodigal  Son  repented, 
who  simply  said,  "  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father." 


362  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

He  must  become  a  Christian  as  Matthew  and  Peter 
became  Christians,  by  beginning  to  follow  Christ ; 
he  must  do  good,  as  the  Good  Samaritan  did  it,  by 
helping  the  first  man  he  found  lying  in  his  path  as 
he  went  to  his  affairs.  He  must  pray  as  the  Pub- 
lican prayed,  all  whose  prayer  was  contained  in 
these  seven  words,  —  "God  be  merciful  to  me  a 
sinner."  He  must  be  charitable  as  the  widow  was, 
who  put  into  the  treasury  just  what  she  happened 
to  have,  which  was  a  farthing.  The  great  thing  is 
to  make  up  our  minds,  once  for  all,  to  do  what  we 
can,  not  to  wait,  not  to  linger ;  not  to  think  that  some 
other  time  will  be  better  than  now,  some  other 
season  more  convenient  than  this,  but  to  determine 
every  morning  to  take  the  opportunities  the  day 
may  bring  of  serving  Christ. 

So,  in  piety  and  prayer,  we  ought  to  begin  at  the 
beginning.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  Church  has 
often  solemnly  taught  that  men  must  begin  at  the 
end.  Eminent  theologians  have  said  that  one  must 
not  pray  at  all  till  converted  and  regenerate.  Some 
unregenerate  persons  prayed  to  Christ  when  he  was 
in  the  world,  and  he  answered  their  prayer.  The 
Eoman  centurion,  who  worshipped  Jupiter  and 
Mars;  the  woman  of  Phoenicia,  who  worshipped 
Baal  and  "  Astarte's  bediamonded  crescent,"  —  these 
prayed  to  Jesus  and  he  helped  them.  But  God,  it 
seems,  is  not  so  condescending;  he  can  only  hear 
the  prayers  of  good  men.  Many  persons  are  taught 
to  believe  that  they  cannot  pray  aright  till  they 


BEGINNING  AT  THE  RIGHT  END.        363 

are  miraculously  transformed  and  renewed.  But  our 
motto  says,  "  That  is  not  first  wliicli  is  spiritual,  but 
that  which  is  natural."  Natural  prayer  must  pre- 
cede spiritual.  Begin  by  seeing  God  in  nature,  in 
providence,  in  life;  begin  by  saying,  "God  help 
me;"  '1  thank  thee,  0  Father;"  by  saying,  "God 
forgive  me  ; "  so  a  habit  of  prayer  is  formed,  growing 
purer,  loftier,  more  constant,  more  prevailing,  more 
spiritual.  It  will  be  pervaded  with  the  spirit  of 
brotherhood,  fellowship,  and  charity.  God  asks 
nothing  of  us  that  he  is  not  ready  to  help  us  do. 
He  asks  nothing  but  what  it  is  good  for  us  to  do. 
And  our  first  duty,  under  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  is 
not  to  be  afraid  of  God.  Eeligious  teaching,  or  that 
which  is  called  so,  makes  God  terrible ;  but  Gospel 
teaching  does  not.  The  powder  of  the  Gospel  con- 
sists in  enabling  us  to  say,  Abba,  Father;  when  it 
has  taught  us  to  say  that,  it  has  done  its  work.  It 
has  then  converted  us,  and  made  us  like  little  chil- 
dren, and  so  we  can  see  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

This  word  Ahha,  "  papa,"  the  first  cry  of  the  de- 
pendent infant,  is  also  the  last  attainment  of  the 
highest  piety.  It  needs  God's  spirit  and  Christ's  gos- 
pel to  bring  us  back  to  that  elementary  sound,  and 
enable  us  to  say  to  the  almighty  and  infinite  Being 
this  little  word,  Abba.  It  requires  that  perfect  love 
wliich  casts  out  all  fear.  It  is  the  simplest  state  of 
mind,  and,  therefore,  often  the  hardest.  The  word 
which  is  very  nigh  to  us,  in  our  mouth  and  our 
heart,  is  the  very  one  we  do  not  find.     So  we  have 


364  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

seen  persons  looking  for  that  which  they  were  hold- 
ing iu  their  hand. 

"A  man's  best  things  are  nearest  him, 
Lie  close  about  his  feet." 

And,  lastly,  let  love  begin  at  the  beginning.  The 
law  says,  "Love  God  with  all  the  heart,"  and  many 
think  because  they  cannot  love  him  so,  they  cannot 
love  him  at  all.  But  does  a  father  or  mother  criti- 
cise the  love  of  their  child  ?  Are  you  not  glad  to 
have  your  child  trust  you  ?  You  do  not  wish  him 
to  be  running  up  all  the  time  to  tell  you  of  it.  The 
child  rambles  over  the  house  or  through  the  field, 
about  his  small  affairs  all  day.  But  the  mother 
does  not  doubt  his  love ;  one  kiss  at  night  before  he 
goes  to  sleep  is  enough.  God  does  not  doubt  our 
love  because  we  are  not  all  the  time  telling  him  of 
it.  No.  He  wishes  us  to  learn  how  to  love  liim 
by  loving  each  other.  Love  to  God  and  man, 
Jesus  tells  us,  are  the  same  feeling  directed  to  differ- 
ent objects.  There  is  a  text  which  seems  almost 
to  have  been  forgotten,  and  that  is  the  passage  in 
John,  "  He  that  loveth  not  his  brother  whom  he  hath 
seen,  how  shall  he  love  God  whom  he  hath  not 
seen  ? "  We  climb  up  to  the  love  of  God  by  the 
love  of  man.  Every  pure,  generous,  unselfish  throb 
of  affection  and  act  of  good-will  toward  man  lifts 
us  nearer  to  God.  Piety  grows  out  of  charity. 
That  love  is  not  first  which  is  spiritual,  but  that 
which  is  natural,  and  afterward  that  which  is  spir- 
itual.    Follow   the  order   of  Nature.     Instead    of 


BEGINNING  AT  THE  RIGHT  END.        365 

making  it  a  task  to  pray  to  God  and  to  feel  eiiKjtion 
toward  him,  take  the  first  steps  toward  him  by 
loviug  and  serving  man.  Forget  youi-self,  my  dear 
brother,  my  dear  sister,  —  forget  yourself  in  the  need 
of  some  one  else ;  then  you  will  find  yourself  com- 
ing nearer  to  God. 

A  little  child  said  to  its  mother,  "  Mamma,  liave 
angels  wings  ? "  "  Yes,  my  dear ;  why  do  you  ask  ?  " 
"Because  if  they  have  wings,  I  do  not  see  why 
they  needed  a  ladder  to  come  down  to  Jacob."  But 
perhaps  even  angels  need  ladders ;  perhaps  we  all 
must  help  ourselves  up  or  down,  step  by  step.  We 
must  do  the  simplest  thing  first,  then  take  the  next 
step.  We  have  no  wings  with  which  to  fly  up  to 
God  and  heaven,  so  we  must  be  satisfied  to  go  a 
little  distance  each  day.  The  Christian  Church 
has  not  yet  learned  the  fable  of  tlie  hare  and  the 
tortoise.  It  sometimes  prefers  an  occasional  revival 
to  a  steady  growth.  But  the  "  Tortoise  Christian," 
doini?  with  his  midit  what  his  hand  finds  to  do 
every  day,  will  be  very  apt  to  reach  the  goal  before 
the  "  Hare  Christian,"  who  waits  for  a  revival. 

"  It  is  not  to  be  like  a  tree 
In  bulk,  doth  make  man  better  be, 
Or  standing  like  an  oak,  three  hundred  year, 
To  fall  a  log  at  last,  dry,  bald,  and  sere. 
A  lily  of  a  day 
Is  fairer  far  in  May. 
Although  it  fall  and  die  that  night, 
It  was  the  plant  and  flower  of  Light  ? 
In  small  proportions  we  just  beauties  see, 
And  in  short  measures  life  may  perfeet  be." 


XXIV. 

THE  HEAVENS  AND   HELLS  OF  THE 
PRESENT   LIFE. 


XXIV. 

THE   HEAVENS  AND   HELLS   OF  THE 
PRESENT  LH^E. 


^^  If  I  ascend  into  heaven,  thou  art  there ;  if  I  maJce 
my  bed  in  hell,  thou  art  there  also.'''' 

IT  is  commonly  taught  and  believed  that  heaven 
and  hell  are  two  regions  of  the  universe,  widely 
and  forever  separated  from  each  other  by  exter- 
nal barriers,  into  which  human  beings  are  to  be 
distributed  hereafter,  after  death;  and,  having 
once  entered  either,  in  that  they  are  to  remain  for- 
ever. I  think  these  positions  to  be  unfounded.  I 
do  not  believe  that  heaven  and  hell  are  widely 
separated  in  space,  but  that  they  are  often  close  to 
each  other,  so  that  persons  in  hell  can  converse  with 
those  in  heaven,  and  vice  versa,  as  Father  Abraliam 
and  Dives  conversed  in  the  parable.  Nor  do  I 
believe  that  we  are  to  wait  until  we  reacli  anotlier 
w^orld  before  we  enter  lieaven  or  hell.  I  tliink  we 
may  and  do  often  go  into  heaven  and  hell  now. 
Nor  do  I  admit  tlie  pure  assumption  nf  theology 
that  those  who  go  into  heaven  or  into  liell  are  never 

2i 


370  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

to  come  out  again.  I  believe  that  the  Gospel 
assumes,  by  its  teachings  and  blessed  invitations, 
that  we  can  rise  out  of  hell  and  go  up  into  heaven ; 
and  it  also  assumes,  by  its  solemn  warnings,  that 
we  may  sink  back  out  of  heaven  into  hell. 

For  what  is  hell,  and  what  is  heaven?  Essen- 
tially, and  in  themselves,  what  are  they  ?  Primarily 
and  essentially,  they  are  inward  states,  conditions 
of  the  soul;  secondarily,  they  are  the  external 
results  of  those  states.  Heaven  is  love,  knowl- 
edge, power,  combined,  —  generous  love,  guided  by 
wise  insight,  and  made  effectual  by  unfaltering 
energy.  Wherever  this  exists  the  essence  of  heaven 
exists,  for  this  state  of  soul  is  the  image  and  reflec- 
tion of  God,  in  whom  love,  wisdom,  and  power  are 
one.  Such  a  soul  is  in  heaven,  for  it  is  in  con- 
tinued communion  with  God.  Such  a  soul  makes 
heaven  around  it,  wherever  it  is,  for  it  influences 
other  open  souls  inevitably  and  necessarily. 

And  what  is  hell  but  the  presence  of  the  opposite 
spirit,  —  wilful,  hard,  selfish,  stubborn  ;  wilfulness 
instead  of  energy,  stupid  prejudice  instead  of  in- 
sight, hard  selfishness  instead  of  generosity.  From 
a  mean,  cold,  cruel  soul  hell  is  radiated ;  the  black- 
ness of  darkness  goes  out  from  it.  The  brutal  man 
carries  an  atmosphere  of  brutality  around  him,  and 
creates  a  like  state  of  mind  in  others. 

You  enter  one  house,  and  you  are  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  peace.  All  is  harmony  and  good-will. 
Father  and  mother,  brothers  and  sisters,  are  inter- 


THE  HEAVENS  AND  HELLS.  371 

ested  in  the  same  good  objects,  caring  for  what  is 
really  important;  and  each,  in  his  own  way,  is  pur- 
suing some  good  end.  No  mean  ambition,  no  poor 
vanity,  no  low  and  mean  passions  can  enter  that 
home.     It  is  a  little  heaven  here  below. 

You  go  into  another  house.  The  atmosphere  is 
full  of  fear,  hatred,  and  cruelty.  The  husband  is  a 
brute,  the  wife  and  children  slaves ;  or  the  wife  is 
frivolous  and  false,  and  her  falsehood  poisons  the 
home.  Or  perhaps  one  of  the  children  has  been 
misled  by  bad  companions,  and  he  is  a  source  of 
constant  anxiety  to  the  rest. 

Every  now  and  then  these  smouldering  hells 
break  out  into  an  eruption  of  crime,  as  a  sleeping 
volcano,  after  long  quiet,  suddenly  vomits  forth 
a  destructive  fire.  We  read  in  the  journals,  some 
morning,  of  a  drunken  brute  kicking  his  wife  to 
deatli,  or  murdering  a  little  child,  and  a  great  horror 
goes  out  over  the  community.  The  hell  which  was 
in  the  man's  soul  has  broken  loose,  and  out  of  that 
one  black  heart,  ulcerated  with  sin,  a  blackness  of 
darkness  has  gone  forth  over  the  whole  community  ! 
What  a  sense  of  evil  has  come  over  us  all !  In 
that  great  horror  we  see  manifested  the  mysterious 
pang  which  belongs  to  sin.  It  is  not  like  any  other. 
It  is  a  breaking  out  of  hell. 

But  w^herever  hell  goes,  heaven  goes  too.  They 
are  side  by  side  in  the  world,  —  producing  bitter 
evils;  sending  also  blessed  consolations.  Where 
sin  abounds,  qrace  more  abounds. 


872  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

I  have  lately  been  reading  some  parts  of  Dr. 
Livingstone's  last  journals  in  Africa.  They  are 
filled  with  the  sense  of  the  miseries  inflicted  on 
Africa  by  the  slave  trade  as  it  is  carried  on  by  the 
Arabs  in  tlie  East.  Every  year  whole  villages  are 
depopulated,  thousands  cruelly  murdered,  multi- 
tudes of  young  girls  and  young  men  carried  off 
to  the  Mohammedan  slave- markets.  Dr.  Living- 
stone's soul  was  darkened  by  the  perpetual  pres- 
ence of  this  foul  curse,  —  the  wretchedness  caused 
by  this  terrific  evil,  the  root  of  which  is  human 
greed  and  human  sensuality.  As  w^e  read  the  book, 
we  seem  to  be  alternately  in  hell  and  in  heaven. 
"VVe  are  in  hell  when  we  see  all  these  cruelties ;  we 
are  in  heaven  when  we  feel  the  presence  of  this 
noble  soul,  devoting  itself  to  the  redemption  of 
Africa.  Here  is  a  life  fitly  lived  !  Here  is  a  man 
who  has  given  himself  in  pure,  disinterested  labors 
to  find  out  the  evils  and  woes  of  a  continent,  and 
to  bring  the  power  of  the  Gospel  to  bear  on  it  for 
its  rescue.  Here  is  a  missionary  who  sliows  us 
again  that  Christianity  is  not  dead  in  the  world  or 
in  the  soul  of  man ;  but  that,  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, as  in  the  first,  it  can  inspire  human  hearts 
with  an  energy  of  love  which  reaches  the  utmost 
boundaries  of  self-surrender  permitted  by  the  limi- 
tations of  the  human  mind.  Here  is  a  man  who 
repeats  tlie  story  of  the  Apostle  Paul :  "  In  journey- 
ings  often,  in  perils  of  waters,  in  perils  of  robbers, 
in  perils  by  mine  own  countrymen,  in  perila  by  the 


THE  HEAVENS  AND  HELLS.  o73 

heathen,  in  perils  in  the  city,  in  perils  in  the  wilder- 
ness, in  perils  in  the  sea,  in  perils  among  false 
brethren  ;  in  weariness  and  painfulness,  in  watch- 
ings  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings  often,  in 
cold  and  nakedness."  Xever,  for  a  moment,  did  it 
occur  to  him  to  relinquisli  his  Avork  and  return 
home,  and  rest  from  his  labors  with  his  family. 
He  thought  nothing  done  while  anything  remained 
to  be  done.  He  had  penetrated  to  the  centre  of  the 
Gospel;  he  had  passed  through  the  shell  of  cere- 
mony and  creed  to  its  living  kernel.  He  says  in 
his  journal,  a  few  weeks  before  his  death,  "What  is 
the  atonement  of  Christ  but  himself,  —  his  own 
life  and  death  and  character,  sliowing  the  infinite 
love  of  God  to  all  his  children,  and  drawing  all  to 
himself,  not  by  fear,  but  by  goodness  ? "  With  all 
this  energy  of  devotion  to  his  work,  there  was  no 
fanaticism  or  cant,  but  wisdom  and  good  sense. 
His  burning  zeal  did  not  make  him  narrow ;  he  was 
a  broad,  liberal  Christian  in  the  best  sense.  His 
first  object  was  to  interest  all  good  men  in  the  sal- 
vation of  Africa;  his  second  was  to  enlarge  the 
boundaries  of  human  knowledge.  He  gave  his  life 
for  both  objects.  And  this  heaven  in  the  soul  of 
Livingstone  diffused  itself  to  those  around  him. 
Wherever  he  went  he  made  friends  among  the  most 
savage  tribes.  In  him  was  fulfilled  tlie  saying, 
"  Touch  not  my  apostles,  do  my  prophets  no  harm." 
No  one  could  harm  him,  protected  as  he  was  by  his 
own  generous  purpose  as  by  a  seveu-fold    shield. 


374  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

He  overcame  evil  by  good.  The  fierce  tribes  of 
Africa,  maddened  as  they  were  by  centuries  of 
oppression,  became  mild  in  tbe  presence  of  this 
lonely  white  man,  trusting  himself  without  hesita- 
tion in  their  midst.  Wherever  he  went,  he  was 
received  with  hospitality  and  dismissed  with  bless- 
ino-.  He  died  in  the  heart  of  Africa,  five  hundred 
miles  from  the  sea,  with  no  one  near  him  but  his 
negro  servants.  Then  was  seen  the  influence  which 
soodness  exercises  over  the  human  soul.  Then  was 
shown  again  what  a  heavenly  virtue  goes  out  from 
a  heart  in  which  heaven  reigns.  These  poor,  igno- 
rant Africans,  after  carefully  collecting  their  mas- 
ter's papers  and  instruments,  took  his  body  on 
their  shoulders  and  marched  that  long  weary  way 
through  forests  and  swamps,  the  wilderness  and 
hostile  tribes,  till  they  faithfully  delivered  their 
burden  at  the  English  settlement  on  the  ocean. 
Such  w^as  the  power  over  these  simple  hearts  of 
their  dead  master's  character.  The  heaven  in  his 
soul  radiated  into  theirs  and  lifted  them  above 
themselves. 

During  the  past  few  weeks  we  have  had  an  accu- 
mulation of  horrors.  The  dreadful  loss  of  the  ocean 
steamer,  the  discovery  of  the  corruption  of  the  rev- 
enue service  by  the  whiskey  ring,  a  tragedy  in  our 
neighborhood,  and  recent  destructive  conflagrations 
make  a  mass  of  evil  which  recalls  the  Master's  words, 
"  This  is  the  hour  of  the  power  of  darkness."  ^ 

^  This  was  written  in  May,  1875. 


THE  HEAVENS  AND  HELLS.  375 

The  sting  of  this  sorrow  has  been  tlie  sin  con- 
tained in  it.  It  was  so  in  the  loss  of  the  "  Schiller," 
which  was  caused  directly  by  a  standing  pecuniary 
reward  offered  by  the  United  States  Government 
to  the  vessel  which  shall  make  the  quickest  pas- 
sage, though  at  the  risk  of  the  loss  of  Imman  life. 
Had  it  not  been  for  that  offer,  no  captain  would 
have  continued  running  on  in  a  fog,  when  he  knew 
that  a  dangerous  coast  and  cruel  rocks  could 
not  be  far  off.  But  had  we  been  able  to  look 
upon  that  scene,  amid  its  terror  and  suffering,  we 
should  no  doubt  have  seen  some  manifestation  of 
a  heavenly  strength,  —  women  upheld  in  peace  and 
composure,  helping  those  who  were  weaker  than 
themselves.  God  always  sends  in  such  hours  some 
radiance  of  courage,  generosity,  care  for  others,  for- 
getfulness  of  self,  which  shows  the  supremacy  of 
the  human  soul  over  outward  disaster  and  out- 
ward suffering. 

The  nation  has  recently  been  disgraced  by  the 
discovery  of  a  system  of  corruption  reaching  through 
a  whole  department  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment. Those  who  are  paid  by  the  United  States  to 
protect  its  interests  have  been  bribed  to  betray  it, 
so  that  the  Government  has  been  obliged  carefully 
to  conceal  from  its  own  officials  its  plans  for  de- 
tecting these  frauds  of  the  whiskey  manufacturers. 
The  system  of  allowing  members  of  Congress  to 
appoint  men  to  office  as  a  reward  for  political  ser- 
vices has  borne  its  appropriate  fruits.     These  poli- 


376  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

ticians,  as  soon  as  they  were  appointed,  proceeded 
to  plunder  the  Government  v.'hich  they  are  paid  to 
serve.  The  great  Eepublican  party,  with  its  glo- 
rious record,  is  like  the  man  in  the  parable,  who  fell 
among  thieves.  These  thieves  have  left  it  wounded, 
stripped  of  its  proud  record,  and  half  dead.  And 
yet,  though  the  times  are  so  bad,  there  remain  some 
upright  souls.  There  are  some  who  have  been  able 
to  detect  and  expose  and  punish  these  robbers  ;  men 
who  can  act  without  fear  or  favor.  And  the  great 
body  of  the  people  are  ready  to  support  such  men. 
The  republic  which  has  conquered  slavery  and  its 
allies  is  not  to  be  destroyed  by  these  plunderers  of 
the  public  treasury.  It  has  fought  and  defeated 
the  bold  highway  robbers  who  took  it  by  tlie  throat 
and  threatened  its  life ;  ha  vino-  done  tliat,  it  will  be 
able,  I  think,  to  save  itself  from  the  hands  of  these 
professional  pickpockets,  even  though  they  are 
backed  up  by  the  professional  politicians. 

Thus  the  hells  and  heavens  are  around  us,  and 
we  pass  out  of  one  into  another ;  first  being  over- 
shadowed by  tlie  blackness  of  hell,  and  then  illu- 
minated by  the  light  of  heaven. 

I  remember  how  this  contrast  once  came  before 
me  when  I  was  travelling  on  a  steamer  on  the 
Mississippi  Eiver.  At  one  end  of  the  saloon  were 
some  professional  gamblers,  playing  cards  and  filling 
their  conversation  with  blasphemy.  At  the  other 
end  were  some  men  and  women,  Methodists,  who 
were  singing  hymns  in  a  low  voice.     As  I  walked 


THE  HEAVENS  AND  HELLS.  377 

up  and  clown  the  saloon,  I  would  come  now  to  the 
singers,  and  catcli  a  few  words  of  tlieir  songs  of 
praise  and  trust,  and  then  I  would  pass  on  to  tlie 
other  end  of  the  room,  and  hear  the  profanity  and 
ribaldry  of  the  gamblers ;  and  it  seemed  to  me  as 
though  I  were  walking  to  and  fro  between  heaven 
and  hell. 

The  breaking  out  of  liell  is  quick,  violent, 
abrupt;  it  suddenly  overflows  the  land  with  its 
dark  shadow  of  guilt  and  sin,  and  fills  all  hearts 
with  sadness.  It  is  like  the  breaking  away  of  a 
milldam,  letting  its  waters  sweep  in  a  broad  flood 
of  sudden  desolation  over  many  miles  of  the  quiet 
valley.  But  heaven  comes  to  us  more  gently  and 
gradually,  like  the  soft-falling  rain,  which  moistens 
the  soil,  and  feeds  the  grass  and  grain  and  trees 
with  a  quiet  power.  Sin  breaks  forth  like  lightning 
to  shatter  and  destroy;  goodness  comes  like  soft 
sunshine  gently  penetrating  the  earth.  When  a 
crime  is  committed,  it  is  telegraphed  over  the  land, 
and  is  in  the  newspapers,  and  men  are  talk- 
ing of  it  at  once,  and  all  faces  gather  sadness. 
But  when  an  act  of  generosity,  of  faith,  of  self- 
sacrifice,  is  done,  who  hears  of  it  ?  When  tempta- 
tion is  resisted  and  conquered,  who  telegraphs  the 
notice  of  it  over  the  country  ?  When,  in  the  depths 
of  the  soul,  a  man  gives  himself  to  God,  to  trutli, 
to  righteousness,  what  city  reporters  liurry  with  tlie 
news  to  the  papers  ?  "  The  khigdora  of  heaven 
comes  not  with  observation,  neither  do  men  say,  Lo 


378  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

here !  or  Lo  there !  for  it  is  within  you."  Yet  it 
may  be  that  in  this  very  hour  there  is  some  young 
man  or  young  woman  quietly  and  calmly  deciding 
to  devote  all  of  life  to  God  and  to  truth ;  and  from 
that  decision  there  may  go  forth  a  power  for  good 
greater  than  the  power  for  evil  in  the  crimes  which 
will  be  committed  to-day,  and  which  will  shock  us 
when  we  read  of  them  to-morrow. 

When  Jesus  was  crucified,  it  appeared  as  if  all 
the  hope  of  man  was  to  be  buried  in  his  grave. 
Here  was  the  one  pure  and  perfect  soul,  who  had 
seen  the  fact  that  God's  love  could  conquer  evil, 
who  had  in  himself  a  spiritual  force  capable  of  con- 
vincing and  converting  the  world  to  the  love  and 
service  of  goodness ;  and  he  was  crucified  wlien  his 
work  was  seemingly  just  begun.  No  wonder  that, 
to  the  minds  of  his  friends,  there  seemed  to  be  a 
great  darkness  over  the  land  from  the  sixth  hour 
till  the  ninth.  The  hells  of  tliis  world  appeared  to 
have  broken  loose.  But  Jesus  had  really  finished 
his  work ;  he  had  planted  good  seed  ;  and  it  had  put 
down  its  roots  and  sent  up  its  stalk,  and  at  last  had 
expanded  into  blossom  and  fruit,  and  into  other 
seeds.  Or,  we  may  say  that  to  some  honest  souls 
he  liad  imparted  the  leaven  of  faith.  This  had 
not  come  with  observation ;  it  seemed  a  very  little 
thing.  Tt  was  leaven  hid  in  three  measures  of 
meal ;  but  it  worked  on  and  on  silently,  till  the 
whole  mass  of  the  vast  Eoman  Empire,  with  its 
twenty  provinces  and  its  thirty  legions  of  soldiers, 


THE  HEAVENS  AND  HELLS.  379 

its  imperial  court  and  its  majestic  religion,  was 
leavened  with  the  truth  and  love  of  the  Gospel. 

God  sometimes  permits  the  hell  of  sin  in  the  soul 
to  break  out  into  the  hell  of  outward  crime,  in  order 
that  its  evil  may  be  seen  and  deeply  felt,  and  so  at 
last  be  overcome.  For  many  years  the  system  of 
slavery  made  a  hell  in  many  Southern  homes,  —  a 
hell  of  cruelty,  licentiousness,  and  suffering.  At  last 
this  hell  broke  out  in  the  Eebellion,  and  then  the 
evil  was  clearly  seen  and  conquered.  It  is  often 
better  that  sin  should  show  itself  as  crime,  and 
thus  its  blackness  and  poisonous  nature  be  known. 
When  the  man  of  sin  is  thus  revealed,  great  suf- 
fering no  doubt  arises  from  its  outbreak,  —  suffer- 
ing, terror,  gloom,  —  but  the  air  becomes  purer 
afterwards.  False  disguises  are  taken  away;  hy- 
pocrisies and  self-deceptions  are  removed ;  truth 
sits  in  judgment,  and  lies  and  shams  go  to  their 
own  place. 

Jesus  Christ  came  down  into  the  world,  says 
Emanuel  Swedenborg,  to  enable  the  heavens  to 
conquer  the  hells.  The  miseries  of  this  world  are 
permitted  by  God,  to  enable  man  to  see  and  know 
evil,  and  freely  choose  the  good.  These  woes  and 
wrongs  are  very  great ;  they  are  purifying  us  with 
the  fires  of  sorrow  and  anguish,  breaking  our  hearts 
with  the  sense  of  irremediable  loss,  bowing  us  down 
with  the  weight  of  sin,  crushing  us  beneath  the 
heavy  burden  of  care ;  but  all  this  is  to  prepare  the 
way  for  a  new  and  better  life  to  come. 


380  EM^RY'DAY  RELIGION. 

I  once  saw  in  the  Navy  Yard  at  Washington  thfe 
forging  of  an  anchor  by  a  steam  hammer  weighing 
between  seven  and  eight  tons.  I  saw  the  great  iron 
log-,  a  foot  thick  and  twenty  feet  long,  thrust  into 
the  dark  mound  of  coal  which  covered  the  ragging: 
fires.  Presently  the  windlass  heaved  it  up,  blind- 
ing bright  with  a  white  heat,  and  it  was  swung 
upon  the  anvil,  and  then  a  man  turning  a  winch 
managed  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  enormous  hammer, 
which  moved  softly  down  its  grooves  so  as  to  give 
gentle  blows,  or  fell  with  crushing  weight  on  the 
red-]iot  mass,  hammering  it  into  solid  consistency. 
The  poor  iron,  if  it  could  have  thought  about  it, 
might  have  considered  its  lot  a  liard  one.  "  Why 
was  I  taken  from  my  mine,  where  God  had  put  me, 
to  be  melted  in  a  furnace,  and  then  to  be  thus 
heated  in  insufferable  fires,  and  crushed  by  these 
terrible  blows  ? "  And  then  it  might  be  answered : 
"  This  stern  experience  is  to  make  you  strong,  and 
fit  you  for  a  great  work.  You  are  thus  made  tena- 
cious and  tough,  in  order  to  become  a  noble  anchor, 
to  hold  amid  the  storm  the  tossing  vessel  which  has 
drifted  among  breakers.  On  its  lee  will  be  the 
shore,  over  which,  a  cable's  length  off,  the  waves 
are  bursting  mast  high,  white  witli  friglitful  death 
to  all  the  crew.  But  you,  O  anchor,  made  strong 
by  this  trial,  shall  hold  them  safe,  because  of  the 
strength  you  have  gained  in  this  liell  of  fire.  Your 
great  flukes  will  cling  firm  to  the  bottom,  the  vessel 
will  ride  safely  through  the   storm,  held  by  your 


THE  HEAVENS  AND  HELLS.  381 

unflinching  resistance ;  and  the  lives  of  the  men 
will  be  as  safe  as  though  they  ^ve^e  sleeping  in  tlieir 
own  quiet  homes,  where  tlieir  anxious  wives  look 
through  the  windows  into  the  terrible  night." 

So,  perhaps,  it  will  be  with  us.  Thus  sliall  the 
hammer  and  fire  of  God's  providence  try  each  of  our 
souls,  and  make  them  strono-  for  duties  more  noble 
and  austere  than  we  can  now  imagine.  We  may 
be  iitted  to  become  the  anchors  by  which  other 
souls  shall  ride  safely  in  the  storms  of  being.  So, 
too,  this  nation,  let  us  hope,  tried  by  the  lire  of 
many  a  fearful  danger,  may  grow  strong  and  noble 
and  generous;  may  forget  the  things  behind,  and 
reach  out  to  those  before;  forget  its  idolatries  of 
wealth  and  outward  prosperity,  its  self-love  and  its 
foolish  boasting,  its  injustice  towards  other  races 
and  nations,  and  be  fitted  for  its  destiny  of  becom- 
ing the  Anchor  of  Hope  to  mankind. 


XXV. 
MORAL  MECHANICS  AND  DYNAMICS. 


XXY. 

MORAL   MECHANICS   AND   DYNAMICS. 


*'  The  spirit  of  the  living  creature  ivas  in  the  wheels.'^ 

THE  parable  of  the  wheels  and  tlie  living  creature 
within  the  wheels  is  a  good  iUustration  of  the 
proper  union  of  meclianical  and  vital  forces.  Ma- 
chinery is  very  important,  but  it  nnist  be  directed 
by  mind.  There  should  always  be  the  spirit  of  the 
livino'  creature  in  the  wheels.     Machines  are  neces- 

o 

sary,  but  there  must  be  some  vital  force  behind 
them. 

The  power  of  the  wheel  is  the  same  as  that  of 
the  lever,  with  this  difference  only,  that  in  the 
wheel,  before  one  lever  has  ceased  to  act,  anotlier 
takes  its  place.  Thus  a  wheel  consists  of  a  multi- 
tude of  levers  joined  together.  When  the  wheel 
was  invented,  a  great  step  forward  was  taken  in  hu- 
man civilization. 

But  all  machines  must  have  a  power  behind 
them  to  move,  to  guide,  to  restrain,  else  the  ma- 
chinery is  of  no  value.  I  propose  to  speak  of  the 
relations  of  machinery  and  vital  forces  in  thought 
25 


386  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

and  life;  or  the  machine  in  philosophy,  morals, 
politics,  and  religion. 

What  a  wonderful  thing  is  vital  power !  In  cross- 
in  cr  the  Atlantic  we  saw  sea-o-ulls  which  attended 
the  steamship  day  and  night,  on  untiring  wing,  and 
we  were  told  that  they  sometimes  followed  a  vessel 
the  whole  way  across  the  Atlantic.  Consider  the 
immense  force  in  the  little  body  which  enables  the 
bird  to  continue  this  unceasing  flight  1 

A  large  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Holland  is  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  feet  below  high-water  mark,  or 
what  is  called  the  Amsterdam  zero.  The  surplus 
water  on  the  surface  of  the  country  must  therefore 
be  pumped  up  by  numerous  large  windmills,  and 
poured  into  the  sea  at  low  water  by  means  of  a 
system  of  canals.  To  accomplish  this,  engineers  in 
all  parts  of  the  country  are  in  constant  telegraphic 
connnunication  with  a  central  office,  from  which,  as 
from  a  brain,  orders  are  sent  to  open  the  canal  locks 
here,  and  close  them  there,  so  as  to  keep  the  waters 
everywhere  at  the  proper  level.  Without  such  a 
perfect  system  Holland  might  at  any  time  be  inun- 
dated. But  by  this  complex  machinery  the  inhabi- 
tants live  safely  below  the  level  of  the  ocean; 
because  the  spirit  of  the  living  creature  is  within 
the  wheels;  because  mind  every w^here  w'atches  and 
controls  mechanism. 

This  illustrates  the  relation  between  mechanical 
and  vital  forces.  Machinery  must  be  governed  and 
directed  by  mind.     As  long  as  man  governs  the 


MORAL  MECHANICS  AND  DYNAMICS.     387 

machine,  all  goes  well ;  but  as  soon  as  the  machine 
controls  the  man,  danger  begins. 

There  are  apparent  exceptions  to  this.  Some 
machines  are  ingeniously  arranged  so  as  to  direct 
the  man  who  watches  them,  and  tell  him  what  to  do. 
A  carpet-loom,  for  example,  will  tell  the  workman 
when  to  change  the  color  of  the  wool.  But  this  is 
no  real  exception  to  our  rule,  for,  after  all,  it  was 
mind  which  made  and  still  governs  the  machine. 

The  living  animal  is  the  most  wonderful  of  ma- 
chines. Consider  the  human  body,  with  its  myste- 
rious organization,  in  which  the  brain,  the  lungs, 
the  heart,  the  digestive  organs,  and  tlie  muscular 
system  work  harmoniously  together  for  seventy 
years.  The  heart  beats  on,  day  and  night,  wlien 
we  are  awake  or  while  we  sleep,  driving  the  blood 
through  the  minutest  capillaries  to  be  oxygenated 
in  the  lungs,  to  feed  the  brain,  and  supply  nutri- 
ment to  bone  and  muscle.  The  nutritive  organs, 
in  silent  hidden  action,  change,  by  a  strange  chem- 
istry, food  into  blood.  The  arteries  again  carry  to 
every  part  of  the  body  the  matter  which  renews  its 
worn  tissues  and  rebuilds  its  exhausted  fibre.  All 
this,  and  much  more,  goes  on  automatically  in  our 
body,  without  our  knowing  it  or  having  to  take  any 
trouble  about  it.  This  has  led  some  philosophers  to 
say  that  man  is  wholly  a  machine,  only  an  automa- 
ton. But,  beside  the  machinery,  there  is  tlie  mar- 
vellous vital  power,  and  the  still  more  marvellous 
mental  power.     Some  central  vital  force  correlates 


388  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

and  combines,  superintends  and  modulates  this 
complex  mechanism;  otherwise,  instead  of  going 
on  for  seventy  years,  it  could  not  continue  for  sev- 
enty seconds.  For  the  body  is  not  of  unchanging 
materials  like  the  machines  which  we  make  of  rigid 
wood  and  hard  metal ;  but  it  is  in  a  constant  con- 
dition of  decay  and  repair,  changing  every  moment 
in  every  molecule.  Beside  the  material  particles, 
there  is  another  power  present  in  every  living  body, 
which  maintains  the  perfect  equilibrium.  For  want 
of  a  better  word,  we  call  this  the  vital  power.  This 
works  continually  to  evolve'  the  type  hidden  in 
the  germ,  and  to  maintain  it,  in  spite  of  the  antago- 
nism of  the  chemical  and  pliysical  forces  which  are 
always  tending  to  disintegrate  the  organization. 
The  spirit  of  the  living  creature  is  in  the  wheels. 
In  every  living  body  there  are  both  mechanical 
methods  and  the  dynamic  power  which  continues 
them  in  action. 

The  human  mind  itself  has  its  vvdieels,  its  auto- 
matic action,  its  machinery.  When  we  do  not 
direct  and  control  our  thoughts,  they  flow  on  of 
themselves,  along  certain  well-worn  grooves  wdiich 
we  call  the  laws  of  association.  A  current  of  ideas 
is  forever  flowing  through  the  mind,  and  what  we 
do  is  to  guide,  check,  restrain,  direct  this  stream 
of  thouglits.  Thoughts  come  to  us,  w^e  know  not 
whence.  They  seem  to  drop  into  the  mind  i'rom 
some  higher  world  of  light,  or  to  rush  up  darkly 
from  some  nether  abyss  of  evil.    Imagination  spreads 


MORAL  MECHANICS  AND  DYNAMICS.      389 

a  panorama  of  visionary  beauty  before  the  soul. 
Memory  brings  up  pictures  of  past  scenes,  —  the 
home  of  our  childhood,  the  loved  faces  of  long  ago. 
They  come  and  go,  by  some  inscrutable  machinery 
of  thought.  Yet  it  is  not  all  machinery,  for  we  can 
detain  them  or  let  them  go ;  we  can  even  call  them 
up  by  force  of  will.  What  a  curious  iact  is  that 
which  occurs  when  we  are  trying-  to  recollect  some 
word  or  name  !  The  name  is  not  consciously  in  our 
mind,  but  we  know  it  is  somewhere  hidden  amid 
the  abysses  of  unconscious  knowledge.  Like  an 
angler  who  drops  his  line  into  a  stream,  and  feels 
a  fish  bite,  and  then  loses  it  again,  we  almost 
remember  what  we  want,  but  not  quite.  But  by 
force  of  fixed  attention  we  at  last  succeed  in  seizing 
it.  If  the  mind  did  not  possess  this  power  of  con- 
trolling and  directing  its  thoughts,  if  thought  was 
a  purely  mechanical  process,  we  should  be  like  the 
insane,  who  do  not  possess  their  thoughts,  but  are 
possessed  by  them.  The  insane  man  cannot  govern 
or  guide  his  thoughts ;  the  sane  man  keeps  the 
reins  in  his  hand,  and  directs  his  ideas  towards  the 
end  which  he  has  in  view.  Here,  again,  we  have 
the  wheels,  and  the  spirit  of  the  living  creature 
wdthin  the  wheels. 

The  difference  between  a  merely  mechanical  phi- 
losophy and  a  true  psychology  is  this :  Mechanical 
philosophy  takes  account  of  the  laws  of  associa- 
tion, of  unconscious  cerebration,  of  habit,  of  imita- 
tion, of  the  strongest  motive  ;  but  remains  blind  to 


390  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

the  profoimdest  mysteries  in  tiie  mind  of  man, — 
the  deeply  rooted  ideas  of  cause,  of  freedom,  of 
right  and  wrong,  of  unselfish  love,  of  infinite  being. 
It  only  knows  what  comes  through  the  senses,  not 
that  which  is  given  in  the  reason  itself  It  reduces 
all  motives  to  those  of  personal  gratification  and  the 
pursuit  of  one's  own  happiness.  It  ignores  the  en- 
thusiasm of  ooodness,  of  love,  of  truth,  which  have 
inspired  the  prophets,  reformers,  and  martyrs  of  all 
time.  A  true  mental  philosophy  accepts  all  the 
facts  of  human  experience.  It  sees  the  mechanism 
of  mind,  but  it  also  observes  the  nobler  powers 
w^hich  make  man  a  living  soul  and  a  child  of  God. 

Mechanical  and  dynamic  power  are  also  combined 
in  every  moral  act.  A  man's  goodness  is  partly 
mechanical,  partly  conscious  and  free.  The  mechan- 
ism of  goodness  is  the  habit  of  doing  right,  the 
habit  of  truthfulness,  of  honesty,  of  kindness,  of 
self-control,  of  pure  thoughts,  pure  speech,  pure 
action.  Without  such  habits  there  would  be  no 
fixed  moral  character ;  we  should  have  to  make 
unceasing  efforts  not  to  yield  to  every  momen- 
tary temptation.  Moral  progress  partly  consists 
in  building  up  ha,bits  of  goodness  ;  adding  to  our 
faith  knowledge,  and  to  knowledge  prudence,  and 
to  prudence  zeal,  and  to  zeal  fidelity,  and  to  fidelity 
patience,  and  to  patience  charity.  It  would  be 
a  dreadful  state  of  things  if  we  had  to  make  a 
new  effort  each  moment  to  do  our  every-day  duties. 
Without  this  mechanical  part  of  virtue  it  is  evident 


MORAL  MECHANICS  AND  DYNAMICS.     391 

there  would  be  no  such  thing  as  fixed  character. 
Edmund  Burke  gives  to  this  mechanism  an  unfor- 
tunate name,  calling  these  moral  habits  "preju- 
dices." He  says,  "  Prejudice  is  of  ready  application 
in  the  emergency ;  it  previously  engages  the  mind 
in  a  steady  course  of  wisdom  and  virtue,  and  does 
not  leave  the  man  hesitating  in  the  moment  of 
decision,  sceptical,  puzzled,  and  unresolved.  Preju- 
dice renders  the  man's  virtue  his  habit,  and  not 
a  series  of  unconnected  acts.  Through  just  preju- 
dice his  duty  becomes  a  part  of  his  nature." 

This  is  true ;  but  if  this  were  all,  the  heroism 
and  glory  of  goodness  would  disappear.  If  it  were 
all  a  mere  habit,  if  there  were  no  effort,  no  struggle, 
no  battle,  no  enthusiastic  longing  for  something 
better  than  we  have  yet  attained,  that  which  we 
most  admire  in  noble  characters  would  come  to  an 
end.  It  was  no  mere  habit  of  goodness  which  ani- 
mated the  souls  of  apostles,  prophets,  and  martyrs ; 
no  mechanical  goodness  which  has  sent  missionaries 
to  Africa  and  India,  which  makes  us  dissatisfied 
with  all  present  attainment,  and  "harries  man" 
with  the  love  of  the  best.  The  moral  machine  holds 
what  is  already  gained,  and  roots  it  in  character; 
but  it  does  not  go  onward  to  grander  achievements. 
Tliis  motive  power  lies  in  moral  freedom,  in  obeying 
the  idea  of  right,  the  idea  of  goodness,  beauty,  purity, 
which  goes  before  the  soul,  illuminating  life  with  an 
ideal  hope.  This  is  the  spirit  of  the  living  creature 
within  the  wheels. 


392  E VER Y-DA  Y  RELIGION. 

The  same  machinery  and  the  same  ideality  are 
to  be  found  in  literature,  art,  science,  politics,  and 
religion.  In  literature  there  is  a  certain  habit  of 
expression  common  to  each  period,  commonplaces 
of  language  and  style  which  all  writers  adopt. 
Habit  and  imitation  give  a  certain  mannerism  which 
marks  an  epoch.  The  poets  at  one  period  imitate 
Byron,  at  another  Tennyson  or  Longfellow,  at 
another  Browning.  Then  comes  some  original 
writer  who  creates  a  new  world,  marks  out  a  new 
path,  and  opens  other  fields  to  those  who  succeed 
him.  Without  the  machine  many  good  and  useful 
writers  would  have  no  style  with  which  to  express 
themselves,  for  most  of  our  vocabulary  comes  to 
us  from  the  books  and  the  speakers  around  us.  But 
without  the  original  ideas  which  are  always  falling 
anew  out  of  some  higher  heaven  of  thought,  litera- 
ture would  consist  of  vain  repetitions,  vapid  and 
tiresome  commonplaces,  and  would  die  of  weariness 
and  exhaustion. 

We  hear  a  good  deal  about  the  machine  in  poli- 
tics. Political  life  needs  and  must  have  some  kind 
of  machinery.  Politics  in  our  day  are  carried  on 
by  the  antagonism  of  parties.  Each  party  ought  to 
represent,  and  in  its  origin  does  represent,  some 
great  idea.  One  party  represents  progress,  another 
security ;  one  stands  for  freedom,  the  other  for 
order ;  one  to  keep  safe  all  the  good  already  attained, 
the  other  to  go  on  to  something  still  better.  One 
party  believes  in  reform,  the  other  in  conservatism. 


MORAL  MECHANICS  AND  DYNAMICS.      393 

By  their  proper  balance  the  welfare  of  the  State  is 
maintained,  as  the  planets  are  moved  in  their  regu- 
lar paths  by  the  antagonistic  forces  of  Nature.  One 
party  is  the  centrifugal  force,  the  other  the  centri- 
petal. Each  citizen  joins  the  party  which  seems  to 
him  at  the  time  to  be  doing  the  most  important 
work,  not  because  it  is  perfectly  faultless,  but  be- 
cause he  thinks  it  on  the  whole  the  best.  Each 
party  is  a  machine,  and  must  have  its  mechanism, 
its  party  leaders,  newspapers,  committees,  caucuses, 
otherwise  it  could  not  act  with  efficiency.  It  would 
not  be  an  army,  but  a  mob. 

But  sometimes  it  happens  that  the  machine  in  a 
party  gets  the  better  of  the  ideas.  The  real  use  of 
the  machine  is  to  cause  the  ideas  to  prevail.  But, 
forgetting  this,  the  machine  thinks  it  is  for  itself, 
and  that  the  whole  purpose  of  the  party  is  to  keep 
the  machine  in  power.  The  officials,  paid  to  do 
work  for  the  whole  people,  are  appointed  and  kept 
in  office  to  reward  them  for  service  done  to  a  single 
party.  Members  of  Congress,  instead  of  studying 
public  questions,  devote  their  time  to  securing  their 
own  re-election.  Caucuses  are  packed  to  misrep- 
resent the  sentiments  of  voters.  Party  leaders  re- 
gard themselves  as  clothed  with  despotic  authority 
to  reward  and  punish  those  who  support  or  oppose 
them.  The  Federal  Government  interferes  in  State 
elections,  and  once,  it  is  said,  has  gone  so  far  as  to 
cause  letter-carriers  to  scatter  free  of  charge  circu- 
lars asking  citizens  to  withdraw   their  patronage 


89-1  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

from  a  newspaper  which  the  authorities  disliked. 
When  a  political  machine  thus  undertakes  to  govern 
the  people  instead  of  serving  them,  the  life  is  evi- 
dently deserting  the  body.  It  has  lost  the  ideas 
which  gave  it  life.  Dead  mechanism  has  taken  the 
place  of  living  enthusiasm.  Such  a  party  may  live 
some  time  on  its  past  reputation,  just  as  they  say  a 
railroad  train  on  a  straight  and  level  road  will  run 
about  five  miles  after  the  steam  has  been  cut  off. 
But  the  motive  power  is  gone,  and  unless  the 
party  be  reformed  its  end  is  sure.  All  honest  men 
therefore  within  its  ranks  should  make  it  their 
first  object  to  reform  it,  even  by  the  most  heroic 
treatment. 

The  machine  in  religion  consists  of  creed  and 
ritual,  church  organization  and  church  methods.  In 
religion  we  need  both  organization  and  inspira- 
tion. The  right  relation  of  the  two  w^as  given  by 
Jesus  when  he  said,  "  The  Sabbath  was  made  for 
man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath."  The  Jewish 
Sabbath  and  the  Christian  Lord's  day  both  belong 
to  the  machinery  of  religion.  When  they  are  re- 
garded as  a  means  for  the  elevation  of  man,  they  are 
helpful ;  when  considered  to  be  ends  in  themselves, 
they  become  a  burden.  The  Jewish  leaders  in  the 
time  of  Jesus  exalted  the  machine  of  religion  above 
its  spirit,  and  so  their  religion  became  mechanical, 
formal,  and  dead.  They  had  a  mechanical  Sabbath, 
mechanical  prayers,  mechanical  fasting,  mechanical 
alms-giving.     Eeligion  was  a  routine   of  outward 


MORAL  MECHANICS  AND  DYNAMICS.      395 

works,  with  no  soul  in  it.  Jesus,  the  boldest,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  wisest  of  reformers,  brought  back 
men  from  the  letter  of  religion  to  the  spirit.  "  Do 
good  to  man  on  the  Sabbath,"  he  virtually  said, 
"  and  you  are  keeping  it  aright.  Give  without 
ostentation.  If  you  deny  yourself  from  a  sense  of 
duty,  make  light  of  it,  and  do  not  parade  your  self- 
denial.  If  you  pray,  let  your  prayers  be  chiefly 
private,  in  the  depths  of  the  soul,  not  a  ritual  ser- 
vice, not  verbal  repetitions,  but  loving  worsliip  of 
the  Father  in  spirit  and  truth."  And  under  his 
heavenly  influence  a  new  tide  of  inspiration  arose 
in  human  hearts.  God,  eternity,  and  immortality 
came  near ;  and  the  spirit  of  tlie  living  creature  was 
again  within  the  wheels. 

If  we  have  faith,  inspiration,  and  conviction, 
organization  will  follow ;  but  the  best  organiza- 
tion in  the  world  will  not  produce  life.  The  soul 
creates  the  body,  the  body  does  not  create  the  soul. 
Eitual  does  not  produce  religion,  but  religion  pro- 
duces ritual.  How  easily  we  organize  when  we 
have  any  living  idea  around  which  to  organize ! 
We  need  not  be  anxious  about  our  machine,  as  if 
we  could  not  at  any  time  make  another.  Let  us 
only  have  faith  in  the  soul,  in  God,  in  duty,  in  im- 
mortality, and  churches  will  spring  up  ahnost  of 
themselves.  ''Destroy  this  temple,"  said  Jesus, 
"  and  I  will  raise  it  up  in  three  days."  The  Temple 
and  the  whole  majestic  worship  of  Jerusalem  went 
to  the  ground,  but  in  their  place  arose  Christian 


E VERY-DAY  RELIGION, 

cathedrals  and  minsters,  wonderful  and  original 
architecture,  new  songs,  hymns,  litanies,  and  litur- 
gies, the  dome  of  St.  Peter's  and  the  spire  of  Stras- 
burg. 

"  For,  out  of  Thought's  interior  sphere, 
These  wonders  rose  to  upper  air." 

There  is  always  a  tendency  in  religion  to  relapse 
into  mechanism,  —  to  multiply  ceremonies  and  lose 
the  spirit.  Ever,  as  the  winter  of  unbelief  chills 
the  soul,  and  the  river  of  religious  life  sinks  in  its 
channel,  the  ice  of  forms  accumulates  alons  its 
shores.  Then  the  Lord  sends  a  new  prophet,  to 
whom  religion  is  not  a  form,  but  a  reality ;  one  who 
sees  with  his  own  eyes  God  as  a  hea\^nly  presence 
in  nature  and  life ;  who  has  the  vision  and  tlie  fac- 
ulty divine.  God  never  leaves  himself  without  a 
witness  in  the  world.  He  sends  these  inspired 
souls  when  the  times  require  them,  rising  up  early 
and  sending  them..  They  come  in  a  long  proces- 
sion :  Paul,  Augustine,  Bernard,  Savonarola,  Huss, 
Wickliffe,  Luther;  and,  in  later  days.  Fox  the 
Quaker,  Wesley  the  Methodist,  Channing,  Parker, 
Arthur  Stanley,  Frederick  Ptobertson.  This  is  the 
true  apostolic  succession.  Such  men  are  divinely 
ordained  to  keep  religion  alive  in  the  world  when 
the  prophets  prophesy  falsely,  and  the  priests  bear 
rule  by  their  means,  and  the  people  love  to  have  it 
so.  These  men  bring  us  back  from  dusty  books 
and  dry  forms  to  the  open  vision  of  a  new  lieaven 
and  a  new  earth.     They  are  made  priests  of  God, 


MORAL  MECHANICS  AND  DYNAMICS.      397 

not  by  the  imposition  of  human  hands,  but  by  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  not  after  the  law  of  a 
carnal  commandment,  but  by  the  power  of  an  end- 
less life.  They  see  God  face  to  face ;  see  him  as 
Wordsworth  saw  him  in  Nature  :  — 

'•  A  presence  far  more  deeply  interfused, 
Whose  dwelling  is  the  light  of  setting  snns 
And  the  round  ocean  and  the  living  air. 
A  motion  and  a  spirit  which  impels 
All  living  things." 

They  see  him  in  Christ,  as  our  own  Whittier  saw 
him,  when  he  said  :  — 

"  Our  friend,  our  brother,  and  our  Lord  ! 
What  shall  thy  service  be  'I 
Nor  name,  nor  form,  nor  ritual  word, 
But  simply  following  Thee  ! " 

Such  a  vision  of  God  comes  to  the  hero,  reformer, 
and  patriot  struggling  for  truth  and  right  against 
overwhelming  odds;  to  Wilberforce  and  Clarkson, 
to  Garrison  and  Charles  Sumner.  They  also  were 
God's  prophets,  though  they  may  not  have  known 
it ;  making  his  righteousness  and  justice  once  more 
a  reality  in  the  world.  So,  too,  every  upright  man 
and  conscientious  woman,  to  whom  duty  speaks 
with  a  divine  voice,  and  who  are  faithful  in  the 
least,  are  prophets  of  God.  Such  new  prophets  are 
not  recognized  when  they  come ;  often  they  are 
unpopular,  derided,  and  hated.  But  they  have  a 
sweet  content  within ;    they  are  cheerful,  full   of 


898  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

hope  and  joy.  They  have  no  hatred  in  their  hearts 
for  their  enemies,  for  their  enemies  have  done  them 
no  real  harm. 

This  is  living  religion,  which  makes  all  things 
new.  It  is  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man.  The 
wheels  of  our  existence  drag  heavily  till  we  see 
something  divine  in  nature,  in  history,  in  every 
good  cause,  in  every  good  and  right  action,  in  hon- 
est work,  in  patient  endurance,  in  brave  conflict 
against  wrong.  How  happy  we  are  when  glimpses 
of  this  heavenly  vision  come  to  us !  Sometimes 
there  dawns  in  the  soul  the  sense  of  an  infinite  ten- 
derness, the  consciousness  that  God  is  not  far  off, 
but  near ;  that  all  we  think  and  do  and  say  aright 
comes  from  his  help.  In  the  depths  of  our  sor- 
row, in  the  loneliness  of  our  bereavement,  when 
disappointment  and  failure  meet  us,  we  wonder 
that  we  are  somehow  still  upheld,  and  we  know 
then  that  it  is  because  we  are  indeed  God's  chil- 
dren. We  feel  in  the  midst  of  our  follies,  faults, 
and  sins,  that  when  we  repent  he  will  forgive  us 
and  help  us  to  do  better.  We  may,  perhaps,  hardly 
know  whether  we  are  Christians  or  not,  but  we  have 
come  to  know  and  love  God.  He  is  our  Father  and 
our  Friend,  and  that  is  enough.  This  life  in  the 
soul  makes  light.  We  may  not  have  a  large  belief, 
but  we  have  some  solid  knowledge  born  of  our  own 
experience.  There  is  a  fountain  within,  a  well  of 
water,  welling  up  into  everlasting  life.  And  we  do 
not  feel  constrained  or  liampered  by  this  faith,  but 


MORAL  MECHANICS  AND  DYNAMICS.      399 

more  free  than  ever,  for  where  the  spirit  of  the  Lord 
is,  there  is  liberty.  These  convictions  give  unity 
and  purpose  to  life,  and  make  it  worth  while  to 
live.  They  give  us  sympathy  with  our  fellow-men  ; 
for  we  see  that,  though  men  may  differ  in  moral 
culture,  they  can  yet  have  the  same  profound  con- 
victions. We  know  that  we  have  passed  from 
death  to  life  when  we  love  the  brethren ;  when  we 
have  renounced  cynicism,  unlearned  contempt,  and 
call  no  man  common  or  unclean.  We  know  that 
there  is  a  divine  life  iri  the  universe,  that  no  merely 
mechanical  theory  can  explain  creation.  Chemistry 
in  its  finest  analysis  does  not  reach  this  life.  No 
theory  of  evolution  can  do  more  than  state  its 
method,  —  it  does  not  account  for  the  origin  and 
continuance  of  the  living  world.  It  sees  the  uni- 
versal law,  but  not  that  which  supports  this  vast 
order.  Above  all  things,  below  all  things,  around 
all  things,  within  all  things,  is  the  divine  spirit, 
and  we  have  found  him  to  be  our  Father  and  our 
Friend. 

This  religion  is  both  natural  and  supernatural, 
for  it  finds  God  in  Nature,  and  yet  sees  in  him  a 
power  above  Nature.  When  we  enter  into  com- 
munion with  him,  our  soul  passes  into  a  higher  life. 
Then  we  attain 

"  that  blessed  mood 
In  which  the  burden  of  the  mystery 
Of  all  this  unintelligible  world 
Is  lightened ;  that  serene  and  blessed  mood 


400  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

In  which  the  affections  gently  lead  us  on ; 
When,  with  an  eye  made  quiet  with  the  power 
Of  harmony,  and  the  deep  power  of  joy, 
We  look  into  the  life  of  things." 

Then  all  things  are  ours,  for  all  things,  we  know, 
are  working  together  for  good.  Life  is  good ;  death 
is  also  good.  All  is  discipline,  education,  the  pas- 
sage from  sense  to  soul. 


XXVI. 
TRANSITION    PERIODS. 


28 


XXVI. 

TRANSITION   PERIODS; 

WHEN  PEOPLE  ARE  NEITHER  ONE  THING  NOR 
THE   OTHER. 


ny /TY  subject  is  Transition  Periods.  It  is  illus- 
-^-^  trated  by  the  little  parable  of  Jesus  about 
the  children  in  the  market-place,  which  we  have 
oiven  to  us  in  Matthew  xi.  and  Luke  vii.  In 
the  latter  place  it  reads  thus:  "Whereunto,  then, 
shall  I  liken  the  cliildren  of  this  generation;  and  to 
what  are  they  like  ?  They  are  like  unto  children 
sitting  in  the  market-place,  and  calling  one  to  an- 
other, and  saying:  We  have  piped  unto  you,  and 
ye  have  not  danced;  we  have  mourned  unto  you, 
and  ye  have  not  wept.  For  John  the  Baptist 
came  neither  eating  bread,  nor  drinking  wine;  and 
ye  say,  He  hath  a  devil.  The  Son  of  Man  is  come 
eating  and  drinking ;  and  ye  say :  Behold,  a  glut- 
tonous man,  and  a  wine-bibber,  a  friend  of  pub- 
licans and  sinners.  But  wisdom  is  justified  of  all 
her  children."    This  little  picture  which  Jesus  gives 


404  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

US  of  children's  plays  is  an  illustration  of  many 
things,  to  some  of  which  we  may  give  attention. 

It  shows  us  how  uniform  are  the  tendencies  of 
human  nature  in  all  ages  and  times.  Jesus,  passing 
through  the  market  of  Nazareth,  or  Cana,  saw^  the 
children  playing  their  games,  just  as  they  do  now. 
The  little  Syrian  hoys  and  girls  belonging  to  the  great 
Semitic  race,  living  eighteen  hundred  years  ago, 
amid  Asiatic  customs  and  scenery,  were  just  such 
little  children  as  you  and  I  saw  on  the  Common 
yesterday.  They  played  the  same  kind  of  games, 
imitating  the  customs  of  grown  people ;  and  as  little 
children  now  play  soldier,  play  horse  and  driver,  so 
they  then  played  weddings  and  funerals.  Jewish 
weddings  and  funerals  were  conducted  with  much 
ceremony,  witli  processions  and  pomp,  and  so  caught 
the  eyes  of  the  children  wdio  stood  watching  the 
nuptial  cortege  or  solemn  burial  march,  and,  as 
soon  as  it  w^ent  by,  began  to  say  to  each  other, 
"  Come,  let  us  play  wedding,"  and  then  they  pre- 
tended to  make  the  music  to  wdiich  the  others  were 
to  dance ;  or,  "  Let  us  play  funeral,"  and  then  they 
went  gravely  through  all  the  customs  of  mourning. 
But  little  children  were  sometimes  cross  in  those 
days,  as  tliey  are  now,  and  so  refused  to  play  either 
one  or  the  other  game,  and  their  companions  could 
not  please  them,  do  what  they  would.  This  little  trait 
of  childlike  nature,  breaking  out  of  the  solemn  dis- 
tant past,  out  of  another  civilization,  race,  continent, 
age,  affects  us  like  a  song  heard  in  youth,  like  the 


TRANSITION  PERIODS.  405 

fragrance  of  a  flower  that  grew  in  the  garden  where 
we  roamed  in  infancy.  I  once  was  walking  along 
the  ruined  passages  of  an  old  Norman  castle,  and 
while  thinking  of  the  fierce  race  that  manned  those 
walls  six  hundred  years  before,  I  came  suddenly 
upon  a  child's  plaything  lying  on  the  gray  stone. 
Goethe  has  a  lovely  poem,  in  which  he  represents 
a  traveller  who  visits  the  ruins  of  a  Greek  tem- 
ple, and  finds  a  mother  and  infant  sitting  there- 
on. Her  hut  was  made  of  the  carved  fragments  of 
the  architrave  or  frieze,  and  while  the  stranger  was 
admiring  the  elaborate  stones,  broken  columns,  and 
fragments  of  art,  the  mother  was  talking  a  mother's 
foolish,  loving  talk  to  her  sleeping  boy.  So  this 
little  allusion  to  the  children  of  the  day  of  Jesus, 
and  their  plays  and  quarrels  (coming  in  the  midst 
of  tliat  greatest  event  of  time),  shows  us  how  the 
life  of  nature  renews  itself  evermore  amid  all  the 
changes  of  human  history. 

This  passage  also  shows  the  habit  of  Christ  of 
takino-  illustrations  from  common  thin^^s  —  from 
every-day  life !  If  a  minister,  to-day,  should  illus- 
trate a  religious  truth  by  a  boy's  game  at  foot-ball, 
it  would  be  thought  singular,  if  not  undignified. 
But  Christ  saw  nothino;  undionified  in  human  na- 
ture  or  human  life.  In  his  teachings  there  is  noth- 
ing conventional,  nothing  formal.  No  fact  in  God's 
world  is  to  him  common  or  unclean. 

This  saying  of  Jesus,  moreover,  shows  how  much 
easier  it  is  for  good  men,  though  differing  in  ideas. 


406  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

tastes,  and  methods,  to  agree  in  a  mutual  respect 
and  sympathy,  than  for  self-willed  men  to  form  any 
permanent  union.  How  unlike  in  character  were 
Jesus  and  John  the  Baptist ;  but  they  had  a  com- 
mon aim.  It  was  to  do  God's  will ;  to  make  the 
world  better.  So  they  felt  a  mutual  respect  for 
each  other.  John  was  an  ascetic;  he  neither  ate 
nor  drank,  like  other  men;  he  practised  abstinence; 
he  lived  in  the  wilderness ;  an  austere  prophet,  he 
denounced  war  against  tyrants  and  all  evil-doers. 
Jesus  was  not  abstinent  from  human  pleasures  ;  he 
came  eating  and  drinking  like  other  men ;  not  re- 
tiring into  a  desert,  but  goiug  to  weddings,  to  the 
suppers  of  rich  men  or  poor,  to  the  houses  of  his 
friends  or  those  of  strangers.  He  preached  the 
gospel,  not  the  law ;  he  preached  faith,  hope,  love, 
courage.  He  set  forth  God  as  a  Father,  not  as  a 
judge.  So  he  seemed  to  be  very  different  from 
John.  If  he  increased,  John  must  decrease.  Their 
methods  of  work  were  not  alike ;  their  spirit  w^as 
different;  their  missions  did  not  harmonize.  But 
yet,  because  their  deepest  purpose  w^as  the  same, 
John  honored  Jesus,  and  Jesus  honored  John. 
John  had  the  nobleness  to  recognize  a  superior 
greatness  in  Jesus,  though  he  did  not  comprehend 
it.  There  was  a  real  union  between  them.  John 
said  of  Jesus,  "  Behold !  the  Lamb  of  God.  I  am 
not  worthy  to  untie  his  shoe  strings.  He  must  in- 
crease, I  must  decrease."  Jesus  said  of  John,  "  Of 
all  men  born  of  women"  —  that  is,  prophets  by 


TRANSITION  PERIODS.  407 

nature,  in  the  order  of  natural  genius  and  endow- 
ment—  "  there  is  none  greater  than  John." 

He  was  the  last  of  the  prophets  of  that  great  race 
who  kept  alive  the  spirit  and  power  of  Judaism 
amid  the  formalism  of  the  ritualists  aud  docc- 
matists.  He  was  the  transition  from  the  Law  to 
the  Gospel;  the  culminating  point,  and  also  the 
vanishing  point,  of  the  old  covenant. 

An  obscure  text  makes  Jesus  say  tliat  "  from  the 
days  of  John  the  Baptist,  until  now,  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  suffereth  violence,  and  the  violent  take 
it  by  force.  For  all  the  prophets  and  the  law 
prophesied  until  John."  This  passage  probably 
means  that  John  made  the  turning-point  from  the 
Law  to  the  Gospel.  For  Law  lives  by  force ;  the 
Gospel,  by  love.  The  Law  compels  ;  the  Gospel 
attracts.  The  principle  of  the  Old  Testament  was 
command,  —  authority  resting  on  the  sanctions  of 
reward  and  punishment.  The  motive  of  the  Gospel 
is  the  love  of  God  taking  the  initiative,  —  blessing 
us,  that  we,  in  return,  may  bless  one  another. 

There  are  three  great  periods  in  religion :  — 

1.  The  period  of  Law ;  in  which  the  motive  is 
hope  and  fear,  —  hope  of  reward  and  fear  of  punish- 
ment. 

2.  The  period  of  the  Gospel ;  in  which  the  mo- 
tive is  the  love  of  what  is  good  without  regard  to 
personal  results. 

3.  The  transition  period ;  which  is  tliat  of  John 
the  Baptist ;  when  there  is  the  sight  of  the  Gospel, 


408  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

and  yet  the  terror  of  the  Law  behind  it ;  in  which 
men,  though  they  love  God  a  little,  are  still  afraid 
of  him. 

This  transition  period  is  indicated  by  Jesus  in 
that  phrase  which  was  probably  not  understood  by 
the  disciples,  and  therefore  imperfectly  reported: 
"The  kingdom  of  heaven  suffereth  violence,  and 
the  violent  take  it  by  force." 

Such  a  transition  period  has  frequently  appeared 
in  the  Church.  Perhaps  the  majority  of  Christians 
are  now  living,  not  under  the  dominion  of  Law,  nor 
yet  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  in  the  dispen- 
sation of  John  the  Baptist.  Both  Orthodox  Chris- 
tians and  Liberal  Christians  find  it  hard  to  escape 
wholly  from  law.  They  believe  in  the  Heavenly 
Father.  They  believe  in  his  mercy,  in  his  forgiving 
love.  But  still  they  think  that  they  are  not  good 
enough  to  come  to  God  with  perfect  freedom  and 
entire  trust.  They  think  they  must  somehow  fit 
themselves  to  be  Christians.  They  are  a  little 
doubtful  whether  they  are  good  enough  to  go  to 
heaven,  or  good  enough  to  meet  their  friends  in 
heaven. 

Many  strict  believers  show  their  allegiance  to 
John  the  Baptist  by  their  doctrines  of  the  wrath  of 
God,  of  eternal  damnation,  of  a  judgment  which  is 
to  separate  all  men  into  two  classes,  saints  and  sin- 
ners. This  makes  death  to  them  an  awful  thing,  and 
adds  a  gloom  to  life,  and  an  uncertainty  in  regard  to 
their  own  fate  and  that  of  those  dear  to  them. 


TRANSITION  PERIODS.  409 

More  liberal  Christians  have  not  these  fears,  but 
they  have  those  of  another  kind.  They  think  they 
have  to  earn  their  salvation  by  good  works,  and  as 
our  best  goodness  never  amounts  to  much,  they 
have  no  full  confidence  that  they  shall  obtain  it  by 
any  merit  of  theirs.  They  believe  firmly  in  a  law 
of  moral  retribution,  applying  to  this  life  as  to 
every  other.  They  believe  in  being  saved  by  doing 
their  duty,  and  as  their  consciences  are  somewhat 
sensitive,  they  are  by  no  means  sure  of  their  sal- 
vation. 'Thus,  neither  of  these  classes  is  living 
wholly  under  the  Gospel  or  under  the  Law,  but 
under  a  dispensation  half-way  between  the  two. 

But  half-way  convictions  are  not  very  satisfac- 
tory, and  the  remedy  for  this  evil  is  to  put  both  the 
Law  and  the  Gospel  in  their  right  place.  We  can- 
not dispense  with  either,  but  we  wish  to  distinguish 
between  their  sphere  and  their  work. 

Jesus  did  not  come  to  destroy  the  law,  but  to 
fulfil  it  in  love.  We  are  all  under  law.  As  a  man 
sows,  so  shall  he  reap.  There  is  a  strict  and  infalli- 
ble retribution  here  and  hereafter  for  our  conduct. 
As  we  do  right  we  go  up ;  as  we  do  wrong  we  go 
down.    This  is  true  in  this  world  and  in  all  worlds. 

Therefore,  as  regards  our  outward  position,  our 
outward  privileges,  our  outward  situation  in  the 
universe,  we  have  what  we  have  earned  and  have 
fitted  ourselves  for,  and  we  are  saved  by  works.  We 
rise  or  fall  according  to  »moral  laws  as  certain  in 
their  operation  as  the  law  of  gravitation. 


410  E  VERY-DAY  BE  LI  G I  ON. 

But  as  regards  our  inward  state,  our  inward  rela- 
tion to  God  and  to  man,  we  are  saved  by  the  Gospel 
and  by  faith  in  the  Gospel. 

Those  who  live  under  the  Gospel  and  believe 
in  Christ  cease  to  be  anxious  about  their  position 
in  the  universe.  Wherever  they  shall  be  it  is  all 
right  and  good.  They  will  be  inwardly  happy  any- 
where, for  they  will  be  in  communion  with  God. 
They  will  have  their  Heavenly  Father  and  his  love 
in  all  worlds.  They  can  say,  with  David,  "If  I 
ascend  into  heaven,  thou  art  there ;  if  I  make  my 
bed  in  hell,  thou  art  there  also."  If  they  are  to 
have  nothing  outwardly,  they  will  possess  all  things 
inwardly.  If  they  have  to  suffer  hereafter,  they 
know  that  it  will  not  be  from  the  anger  of  God,  but 
from  his  love ;  because  they  need  to  suffer,  and  that 
this  is  best  for  them.  But  of  one  thing  they  are 
sure,  that  nothing  sliall  separate  them  from  the  love 
of  God,  —  neither  affliction,  nor  distress,  nor  angels, 
nor  devils,  nor  heaven,  nor  hell,  nor  things  present, 
nor  things  to  come. 

This  puts  an  end  to  the  time  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist, and  to  the  Transition  Period.  It  puts  the  Law 
in  its  right  place  and  the  Gospel  in  its  right  place. 
The  Law  applies  to  external  conditions  of  outward 
attainment,  position,  character,  and  desert.  The 
Gospel  aj)plies  to  the  inward  life  of  the  heart  and 
soul,  to  its  deepest  convictions,  trusts,  and  joys. 
Our  life  is  hid  with  Chnst  in  God,  and  so  all  is 
well  with  us  while  we  trust  in  him.     Our  outward 


TRANSITION  PERIODS.  411 

destiny  depends  on  ourselves,  and  results  from  our 
fidelity  to  duty,  to  truth,  and  to  law. 

The  Gospel  produces  inward  unity  of  faith  and 
purpose.  It  gives  us  unity  with  ourselves,  and 
till  we  have  that  unity  we  can  be  satisfied  nei- 
ther with  ourselves  nor  with  others.  How  diffi- 
cult to  please  those  who  are  not  at  one  with 
themselves  ! 

If  a  man  is  not  at  peace  with  himself  by  being  at 
peace  with  God,  nothing  suits  him.  He  is  like  the 
children  in  the  parable.  Their  companions  said  to 
them,  "  Come,  let  us  play  a  wedding  ! "  No,  they 
did  not  wish  to  play  that.  "Tlien  let  us  play  a 
funeral ! "  No,  they  did  not  wish  to  play  that, 
either.  Until  we  have  some  inward  union,  there 
can  be  no  real  union  with  others. 

So,  when  John  came,  —  an  austere,  stern  man,  — 
teaching  retribution,  rousing  the  whole  moral  na- 
ture, stirring  the  conscience  to  its  depths,  people 
said  :  ''  He  is  a  fanatic  !  He  is  mad  !  He  is  crazy  ! 
He  has  a  devil !  How  singular,  to  live  in  a  desert ! 
How  improper,  to  preach  out  of  doors !  He  is 
responsible  for  the  lives  of  the  people  whom  he 
has  carried  out  there.  Relicrion  is  a  rational  thins:. 
I  don't  believe  in  such  enthusiasm.  We  ought  to 
be  moderate  in  all  things.  Religion  is  not  sent  in 
order  to  frighten  people  :  it  is  to  make  them  happy. 
I  believe  that  religion  never  was  designed  to  make 
our  pleasure  less.  This  John  the  Baptist  is  a  mere 
demagogue." 


412  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

Then  Jesus  comes.  He  is  not  a  fanatic.  He 
allows  his  disciples  to  walk  on  the  Sabbath-  and  to 
pluck  corn  when  they  are  hungry.  He  heals  a  sick 
man  on  the  Sabbath  day.  He  enjoins  no  strict 
ceremonies,  no  hours  of  prayer,  no  fasts,  no  wash- 
ings. He  goes  to  a  w^edding  and  makes  wine ;  he 
visits  all  sorts  of  people,  rich  and  poor;  he  lays 
stress  on  the  spirit,  the  motive,  very  little  on  forms 
of  any  kind.  He  will  certainly  satisfy  those  who 
objected  to  John ;  so  you  think.  Not  at  alL  They 
say  of  him :  "  He  is  self-indulgent,  a  wine-bibber, 
not  dignified  enough  ;  he  is  too  lax  altogether.  Did 
you  hear  of  his  telling  them  to  forgive  a  woman 
caught  in  an  act  of  sin  ?  He  talks  with  improper 
people !  What  is  the  world  coming  to  ?  All  the 
landmarks  are  breaking  down  between  the  respect- 
able classes  and  tlie  low^er  classes.  Do  you  call 
such  a  man  as  that  a  religious  teacher  ?  I  call  him 
a  mere  man  of  tlie  world.  He  preached  the  other 
day  against  the  Pharisees,  who  are  the  most  respect- 
able people  we  have  among  us.  He  must  be  a  bad 
man,  and  he  ought  to  be  punished." 

The  difficulty  was  this :  they  did  not  like  the 
austerity  of  John,  because  they  were  not  ready  to 
repent  of  their  sins  and  begin  a  life  of  holiness. 
They  did  not  like  the  gospel  gentleness  of  Jesus, 
because  they  feared  that  if  the  terrors  of  the  law 
were  taken  away,  there  would  be  nothing  left.  They 
believed  in  the  law,  but  did  not  like  it.  They  liked 
the  gospel,  but  did  not  believe  in  it. 


TRANSITION  PERIODS.  413 

There  are  just  such  people  nowadays.  They  do 
not  like  Orthodoxy  because  it  is  too  severe  in  its 
demands ;  but  still  they  believe  in  it.  They  like 
liberal  Christianity,  but  they  do  not  believe  in  it. 
They  believe  in  terror  and  punisliment  as  the  only 
motives  which  can  influence  men ;  but  they  do  not 
like  them.  They  like  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
and  the  Good  Samaritan,  and  the  Prodigal  Son, 
but  do  not  believe  in  them.  They  think  some- 
thing stronger  necessary. 

The  difficulty  is  in  themselves.  There  is  no 
unity  within,  so  nothing  suits  them.  If  they  would 
earnestly  follow  what  they  believe,  obey  the  law, 
be  good  Orthodox  men,  or  good  Liberals,  —  by  either 
path  they  would  reach  the  full  light  of  the  Gospel 
and  be  something  better  by  and  by. 

When  a  man's  conscience  is  pulling  him  one  way 
and  his  heart  is  pulling  him  another  way,  nothing 
pleases  him.  If  you  ask  him  to  do  his  duty,  and 
tell  him  what  he  ouglit  to  be,  his  conscience  assents, 
but  he  does  not  like  it.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  you 
make  excuses  for  him,  and  tell  him  he  is  all  right, 
then  his  feelings  are  soothed,  but  his  conscience 
remonstrates,  because  he  knows  what  you  say  is  un- 
true. AVilfulness  is  thus  always  ill  at  ease,  and  has 
no  inward  unity  so  long  as  any  conscience  is  left. 
Men  at  discord  in  themselves  can  have  no  lasting 
unity  with  each  other.  They  may  be  united  for 
a  time  by  common  interests,  but  there  is  continual 
danger  of  a  rupture. 


414  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

The  union  of  good  men  is  internal,  though  there 
may  be  outward  differences.  The  union  of  wilful 
men  may  be  external,  but  there  are  always  inward 
differences.  The  children  of  folly  may  unite  for  a 
common  purpose,  may  be  allied  together  as  Herod 
and  Pilate  were  allied  against  Christ.  Pirates  may 
join  for  plunder;  the  children  of  this  world,  for 
power,  pleasure,  and  earthly  gain.  But  there  is  no 
inward  union,  and  as  soon  as  the  outward  advan- 
tage of  alliance  ceases,  the  partnership  is  dissolved. 
But  good  men,  though  separated  outwardly,  are  in- 
wardly at  one.  They  belong  to  one  invisible  and 
indivisible  church.  By  and  by  they  will  come 
together  outwardly,  and  see  eye  to  eye.  The  in- 
evitable logic  of  faith  and  reason  will  at  last  unite 
them,  and  then  wisdom  shall  be  justified  of  all  her 
children.  John  the  Baptist  will  understand  Christ ; 
Barnabas  will  comprehend  Paul;  Fenelon  and 
Martin  Luther,  Athanasius  and  Arius,  Dr.  Channing 
and  Dr.  Beecher,  will  recognize  each  other's  worth, 
and  bless  God  together  for  what  each  has  accom- 
plished for  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

So  shall  wisdom  be  at  last  justified  of  all  her 
children.  So  shall  all  good  men,  sincerely  desiring 
to  do  right,  be  found  at  last  to  be  walking  together 
on  the  same  road  toward  the  best  things.  He  who 
is  faithful  in  the  least  will  discover  that  he  belongs 
to  that  family  of  which  Christ  is  the  head,  and  he 
will  have  for  his  brothers  and  sisters  the  great  and 
the  good  of  all  climes  and  of  every  age.     He  will 


TRANSITION  PERIODS.  415 

be  a  member  of  the  society  of  great  intellects,  the 
cherubim  with  many  eyes,  and  great  lovers,  the 
seraphim  hiding  themselves  with  their  wings  from 
the  intense  glory  of  God's  throne.  Wisdom  is  not 
sectarian  nor  bigoted ;  she  has  a  large  church,  and 
many  children,  and  is  justified  of  them  all. 


XXVII. 
LOST    OPPORTUNITIES. 


27 


XXVII. 

LOST   OPPORTUNITIES. 


"  His  countenance  fell  at  the  saying,  and  he  went  away 
sorrowful,  for  he  was  one  that  had  great  possessions  " 

DANTE,  in  his  vision  of  hell,  sees  there  one 
whom  he  does  not  name,  but  who,  he  says, 
"made  the  great  refusal"  It  has  been  supposed 
that  Dante  refers  to  the  young  man  who  had  this 
invitation  from  Jesus  and  sorrowfully  declined  it. 

It  loas  the  great  refusal ;  it  was  a  lost  opportu- 
nity, and  such  an  opportunity  as  few  men  have  had 
in  this  world.  There  must  have  been  some  great 
capacity  for  good  in  this  youth.  It  appeared  in 
the  ardor  with  which  he  came  running  to  Jesus ; 
in  the  reverence  he  showed  for  the  goodness  of  the 
Teacher.  He  was  a  ruler,  a  man  of  position ;  but  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  come  to  this  village  Rabbi  to  seek 
the  way  to  the  spiritual  life.  He  could  also  honestly 
say  he  had  kept  the  commandments  from  his  youth. 
But  he  had  no  pride  on  that  account;  he  longed 
for  something  more  than  this  negative  goodness. 
All  these  were  marks  of  a  disposition  which  united 


420  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

aspiration,  modesty,  reverence  for  goodness,  and 
fidelity  in  conduct.  And  we  are  told  that  Jesus, 
who  bad  the  power  of  reading  character,  loved  him, 
and  gave  him  the  opportunity  of  going  up  higher. 
He  told  him  to  sell  what  he  had  and  give  to  the 
poor,  and  follow  him,  and  he  should  have  treasure 
in  heaven.  It  was  not  because  it  was  a  rule,  in 
joining  the  society  of  Jesus,  to  renounce  one's  pos- 
sessions, as  it  is  in  the  monastic  orders ;  for  we  find 
that  many  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus  continued  to 
keep  their  property.  But  no  doubt  it  was  because 
Jesus  saw,  in  this  particular  instance,  that  such  a 
renunciation  was  necessary;  that  in  this  case  the 
young  man's  mind  must  not  be  distracted  by  the 
care  of  his  property ;  he  must  be  able  to  dcA^ote 
himself  wholly  to  his  new  work.  The  love  which 
Jesus  felt  for  this  youth,  and  which  beamed  from 
his  eyes  so  that  the  disciples  noticed  it  and  recorded 
it,  suggests  to  us  that  if  he  had  accepted  the  offer 
and  obeyed  Jesus,  he  might  have  become  another 
apostle  like  John ;  he  might  have  left  us  a  fifth 
gospel,  with  some  precious  additional  insights  into 
the  Master's  mind ;  have  recorded  for  us  some  of 
the  many  sayings  now  forever  gone.  Thus  when 
he  turned  away  it  teas  "  the  great  refusal,"  —  one  of 
those  lost  opportunities  which  never  return,  and  are 
lamented  always. 

Dante  has  put  the  young  man  into  his  "  Inferno  ; " 
but  God  is  more  merciful  than  Dante;  so  let  us 
hope  that  this  good  youth,  who  made  one   great 


LOST  OPPORTUNITIES.  421 

mistake,  has  long  since  been  welcomed  by  Jesus  in 
tlie  other  world,  and  allowed  to  atone  for  this  unfor- 
tunate decision,  or  indecision.  For  I  suj^pose  he 
did  not  so  much  decide  against  following  Jesus ;  he 
was  only  unable  to  make  up  his  mind  to  follow  him. 
Certainly  his  punishment  was  sufficient  without  his 
being  sent  to  hell.  Never  can  he  wholly  forget, 
even  in  heaven,  that  lost  opportunit}^ ;  never  cease 
to  sorrow  for  that  irrevocable  hour. 

Other  examples  of  a  similar  kind  are  to  be  found 
in  the  JSTew  Testament.  There  is  the  instance  of 
Nicodemus,  who  could  come  by  night  to  Jesus,  but 
could  not  make  up  his  mind  to  avow  his  disciple- 
ship  by  day.  There  was  the  case  of  Felix,  who  said 
to  Paul  that  when  he  had  a  convenient  season  he 
would  call  for  him.  Two  years  passed,  and  the 
convenient  season  did  not  come  ;  and  then  Felix 
lost  his  place  and  returned  to  Eome.  Think  of  it ! 
What  would  we  not  give  to  have  an  opportunity  to 
talk  with  Paul  at  any  time  during  two  whole  years  ! 
That  was  another  lost  opportunity. 

In  fact,  every  new  step  forward  in  life  offers 
an  opportunity  which  may  be  accepted  or  refused. 
Lowell  truly  says :  — 

"Some  great  cause,  God's  new  Messiah,  offering  each  the 

bloom  or  blight, 
Parts  the  goats  upon  the  left  hand,  parts  the  sheep  upon 

the  right  ; 
And  the  choice  goes  by  forever  'twixt  that  darkness  and 

the  light." 


422  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION, 

Every  cause,  every  work,  every  day  that  comes, 
offers  opportunities,  but  always  on  conditions.  We 
must  give  up  something  to  obtain  something  else. 
We  must  be  prepared  to  make  renunciations  if  we 
would  gain  advantages.  We  may  either  leave  all  to 
follow  the  new  Messiah,  or  we  may  say,  "Go  thy  way ; 
at  a  more  convenient  season  I  will  attend  to  thee." 

These  opportunities  come,  not  only  to  individ- 
uals, but  to  nations,  to  churches,  to  communities. 

I  recollect  hearing  Dr.  Solger,  a  man  of  much 
insight,  say,  in  a  historical  lecture,  that  the  Lutheran 
Reformation,  if  it  had  been  accepted  by  the  Catholic 
Church,  would  have  saved  Europe  five  hundred 
years  of  relapse  and  loss.  Many  of  the  best  Cath- 
olics wished  to  come  to  some  terms  with  the  Refor- 
mation ;  to  reform  the  abuses  of  the  Church  and 
remain  united  with  the  reformers.  But  the  oppor- 
tunity passed  by,  and  the  results  of  tliat  lost 
opportunity  were  the  desolating  religious  wars  in 
Germany  and  France,  the  Inquisition  in  Spain, 
Bartholomew  massacres,  the  cruelties  of  the  Duke 
of  Alva  in  the  Netherlands,  extremes  of  thought 
on  either  side,  Protestants  missing  the  good  there 
is  in  the  Roman  Church,  Roman  Catholics  losing 
the  good  in  the  Protestant  Church.  That  one  oppor- 
tunity accepted  would,  as  Dr.  Solger  said,  have  put 
Europe  five  hundred  years  further  forward  than  it 
is  to-day. 

So  in  this  country,  in  1820,  at  the  time  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  this  nation  had  the  power  to 


LOST  OPPORTUNITIES.  423 

resist  the  extension  of  slavery,  and  say,  "  Hitherto 
thou  shalt  come,  and  no  further,  and  here  shall  thy 
proud  waves  be  stayed."  Had  it  done  so,  we  might 
have  been  spared  the  long  and  bitter  antislavery 
struggle,  the  woes  and  wrongs  and  losses  of  the 
Civil  War,  and  a  thousand  other  miseries  and  sins. 
It  was  a  lost  opportunity. 

So,  too,  when  the  German  armies  had  defeated 
the  French  Emperor  at  Sedan,  it  would  have  been 
a  great  gain  for  humanity  had  the  king  of  Prussia 
made  peace  and  withdrawn  his  armies,  and  said, 
"  The  dynasty  has  fallen  with  which  I  made  war. 
My  quarrel  was  with  the  Emperor;  I  have  no 
quarrel  with  France."  If  he  had  done  that,  there 
would  be  no  necessity  to-day  for  France  and  Ger- 
many to  spend  their  life-blood  in  maintaining  great 
standing  armies.  The  French  are  a  people  of  senti- 
ment, capable  of  recognizing  generous  treatment, 
and  France  and  Germany  would  now  be  friends, 
instead  of  watching  each  other  with  mutual  suspi- 
cion and  hatred.  That  was  another  lost  national 
opportunity. 

Providence  sometimes  allows  a  vast  deal  to  de- 
pend on  the  course  taken  by  a  single  man.  How 
much  the  first  l^apoleon  might  have  done,  after  he 
had  defended  France  against  Europe  and  made  her 
safe  and  strong,  if  he  had  then  ceased  from  war  and 
devoted  his  grand  intelligence  and  power  to  ad- 
vancing peaceful  industry  and  national  progress ! 
Til  at  was  a  lost  opportunity. 


424  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

When  our  friends  leave  us  for  another  world,  how 
often  we  say,  "  Why  did  I  not  do  differently  during 
all  those  years  when  I  had  them  ?  Why  was  I  not 
more  considerate  of  their  feelings,  more  attentive 
to  their  needs,  more  thoughtful  of  ways  in  which 
I  could  have  made  them  happy  ?  Why  was  I  so 
cold  and  selfish,  so  hard  and  overbearing,  so  irrita- 
ble, so  determined  to  have  my  own  way?  Why 
was  I  not  kinder  ?  AVhy  did  I  not  appreciate  more 
their  goodness  ?  Alas !  I  see  it  all  now  when  it 
is  too  late  !  How  often  I  wounded  the  feelings  of 
that  dear  friend,  who  was  to  me  so  true  and  faithful, 
so  loving  and  tender,  so  conscientious  and  pure ! 
■  Too  late  !  too  late  !  If  it  were  all  to  do  again,  how 
different  my  conduct  would  be  1 " 

When  we  ourselves  pass  away,  leaving  our  work 
undone,  or  badly  done,  w^ill  there  be  needed  any 
greater  punishment  than  to  see  what  good  we  might 
have  done  and  did  not,  or  what  lasting  evil  we 
have  caused  which  we  might  have  avoided  ? 

Mrs.  Oliphant,  in  one  of  her  stories,  has  described 
how  an  old  lady,  whose  only  fault  was  a  modest 
self-indulgence,  saw  after  she  had  entered  the  other 
world  what  a  wrong  she  had  done  in  not  remem- 
bering in  her  will  one  for  whom  she  ought  to 
have  provided.  The  writer  tells  how  the  old  lady 
tried  to  come  back  and  rectify  her  error,  but  only 
succeeded  in  frightening  persons  by  her  helpless 
apparition.  The  story  illustrates  w^hat  a  terrible 
punishment   we   may   find   it,   to   be    enlightened 


LOST  OPPORTUNITIES.  425 

hereafter   in  regard   to   our  sins   of  omission  and 
commission. 

I  am  afraid  that  if  persons  are  to  suffer  liereafter 
for  not  making  a  just  and  good  disposition  of  their 
property  by  will,  there  will  be  a  great  deal  of  misery 
in  tlie  other  world.  Too  often  a  man's  testament 
is  just  what  the  name  implies,  —  it  is  his  ivill ;  not 
his  conscience,  not  his  reason,  not  his  heart,  only 
his  w'ill.  He  says,  "Shall  1  not  do  what  I  will 
with  my  own  ? "  He  forgets  that  he  must  answer 
for  the  use  of  this  power,  as  of  all  others.  He  seeks 
to  find  some  way  by  which  he  can  still  hold  his 
property  after  death.  This  feeling  produced  primo- 
geniture and  entails  in  England,  and  those  abuses 
which  the  law  calls  by  the  expressive  word  mortmain, 
— ''  the  dead  hand."  The  statutes  of  mortmain  were 
intended  to  prevent  the  very  abuse  wdiich  Jesus 
denounced  as  practised  by  the  Pharisees,  who  allowed 
persons  to  alienate  their  property  from  their  relations 
by  dedicating  it  to  the  Temple,  and  calling  it  "  cor- 
ban,"  —  that  is,  a  gift  to  God.  Dying  persons  were 
persuaded  by  priests  that  their  sins  would  be  for- 
given if  they  gave  their  property  to  the  Church  and 
disinherited  their  heirs.  There  was  at  one  time 
danger  that  a  large  part  of  the  land  in  England 
would  go  into  the  possession  of  the  Church,  and  the 
English  law  of  mortmain  declares  that  land  must 
not  be  given  for  such  purposes  by  a  deed  or  will 
executed  by  a  dying  man.  He  must  give  his  land 
for  charitable  objects  in  his  lifetime,  or  not  at  all. 


426  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

But  every  day  brings  to  each  of  us  opportunities 
which  we  may  neglect  or  never  notice.  We  have 
an  opportunity  of  speaking  in  behalf  of  truth  and 
justice,  and  we  are  silent.  We  decline  to  take  our 
stand  against  public  prejudice  or  popular  opinion. 
We  are  afraid  of  being  opposed  or  ridiculed,  or  of 
being  out  of  the  fashion,  and  so  we  do  nothing 
when  we  ought  to  act,  and  the  opportunity  goes 
by.  We  are  like  the  man  who  hid  his  pound  in  a 
napkin  and  buried  it  in  the  earth,  and  said,  "  Lord, 
I  was  afraid ! " 

Let  us  do  what  we  can,  and  we  shall  not  be 
followed  into  the  other  world  by  our  lost  oppor- 
tunities bearing  witness  against  us  in  the  great 
day  of  account  and  retribution.  Every  day  brings 
some  opportunity.  Every  outward  call  may  be  an 
opportunity.  Every  movement  of  conscience  is  an 
opportunity.  And  remember  that  we  are  never 
called  to  do  more  than  is  in  our  own  power.  If  we 
can  say, "  I  have  done  what  I  could,"  that  is  enough. 

But  how  shall  we  remember  to  do  what  we 
can?  Who  ever  does  all  he  can?  We  are  not 
always  in  the  right  mood,  not  always  in  the  best 
temper ;  the  power  may  be  there,  but  the  spirit  be 
wanting.  How,  tlien,  shall  we  learn  to  use  oppor- 
tunities, and  not  neglect  them,  not  pass  them  by  ? 

Here,  as  ever,  comes  in  the  need  and  the  help 
of  Christian  faith.  Faith  not  only  leads  to  work, 
but  the  effort  to  work  leads  to  faith.  The  deep- 
est religious   experience   is  born  of  the  strongest 


LOST  OPPORTUNITIES.  427 

moral  purpose.  Whenever  men  seriously  try  to 
do  right,  they  feel  the  need  of  help  from  on  high. 
If  a  man  should  say  to  me,  "  I  do  not  believe  in 
religion,  I  believe  in  morality;  if  I  do  right,  that 
I  think  is  enough,"  I  should  answer :  "  I  think  so 
too.  Now,  go  to  work  in  good  earnest  to  do  right, 
and  to  be  good.  Begin  every  day  with  a  determi- 
nation not  to  omit  any  opportunity.  Watch  and 
see  if  you  fail.  Do  not  drift,  but  steer.  Be  thor- 
oughly moral,  and  I  think  you  will  find  religion  a 
necessary  help  to  enable  you  to  meet  your  own 
standard.  You  will  find  that  the  sense  of  God's 
presence,  his  influence,  his  readiness  to  give  you 
good  thoughts  and  good  inspirations  will  lead 
directly  to  the  best  morality." 

One  purpose  of  Jesus  was  to  show  us  that  w^e 
can  have  tliis  help,  have  it  now,  have  it  always. 
His  gospel  is  the  revelation  to  the  soul  of  an  ever- 
present  love,  waiting  to  be  gracious.  "Ask,  and 
ye  shall  receive ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find ;  knock, 
and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you.  For  every  one  that 
asketh,  receiveth ;  and  he  that  seeketh,  findeth ; 
and  to  him  that  knocks,  it  shall  be  opened."  Every 
one !  —  then  it  is  a  laio  that  prayer  is  answered. 
It  is  not  a  divine  caprice,  but  a  divine  method, 
sure  and  certain  as  any  law  of  Nature.  The  law 
of  gravitation  is  not  more  unerring  and  constant 
than  the  law  which  ordains  that  w^henever  one  cries 
to  the  Father,  asking  spiritual  help,  the  spiritual 
help  is  given. 


428  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION: 

But  you  may  say,  "  Prayer  is  not  always  an- 
swered. AVhat  became  of  the  tens  of  thousands 
of  prayers  offered  for  the  life  of  Garfield  ?  Wliat 
became  of  the  prayer  of  Christ  himself,  in  his 
agony,  praying  that  the  cup  might  pass  from  him 
if  it  were  possible,  and  if  God  so  willed  ?  How 
can  we  say  that  all  prayer  is  answered?" 

I  reply  that  when  we  pray  for  bodily  life  or  any 
outward  good,  as  for  example  for  the  recovery  of  a 
sick  child,  there  is  the  same  condition  to  the  prayer 
that  Jesus  put  into  his  own  :  "  Nevertheless,  not 
my  will,  but  thine  be  done."  Prayer,  even  then, 
may  avail,  and  greatly  avail,  but  not  always  in  the 
way  we  expect.  The  best  answer  we  may  receive 
to  a  prayer  for  any  outward  blessing  may  be  an 
apparent  refusal. 

When  Augustine,  a  youth,  was  proposing  to  go 
to  Eome,  his  mother,  the  pious  Monica,  prayed 
that  he  might  be  kept  from  going  there,  because 
she  dreaded  the  temptations  of  the  capital  for  her 
son.  But  he  went,  and  was  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity by  Ambrose.  So,  in  his  Confessions,  he  says, 
"  Thou,  Lord,  didst  refuse  to  my  mother  the  out- 
ward form  and  body  of  her  prayer,  but  didst  grant 
to  her  the  inward  heart  of  her  prayer.  For  that 
which  she  really  asked  was  that  my  spiritual  life 
might  be  made  safe ;  and  it  ivas  saved  by  my  going 
to  Eome." 

But  when  Jesus  says,  without  limitation  or  con- 
dition, "Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive,"  he  is  speaking 


LOST  OPPORTUNITIES.  429 

of  prayer  for  spiritual  help.  For  he  uses  the  illus- 
tration of  a  father,  who  will  not  refuse  bread  to  a 
starving  child,  and  says,  "How  much  more  will 
your  Heavenly  Father  give  his  Holy  Spirit  to  those 
who  ask  liim  ! " 

If,  then,  we  have  these  opportunities  to  meet 
every  day;  if  we  are  so  apt  to  pass  them  by;  if 
it  is  so  hard  to  be  in  the  right  spirit;  if,  without 
such  a  right  spirit,  we  are  sure  to  do  what  we  ought 
not,  and  to  omit  to  do  what  we  ought, —  then  we  are 
like  the  hungry  child,  who  needs  food  and  cannot 
get  it  for  himself.  Will  not  God  certainly  feed  our 
soul  with  inward  strength  if  we  have  enough  faith 
to  go  to  him  ?  I  believe  that  this  is  a  universal 
law.  I  do  think  that  any  one,  wishing  to  do  right 
and  finding  it  hard  to  do  so, —  one  who  tries  and  tries 
again,  resolves  and  resolves  again,  —  will  certainly 
find  himself  lifted  to  a  higher  plane  by  simply  look- 
ing up  and  saying,  "  Oh,  my  Father  !  feed  my  soul 
with  thy  light  and  thy  love."  He  will  find  that 
somehow  or  other  he  is  able  to  say  the  right  thing 
at  the  right  time  ;  to  do  the  right  thing;  to  be  in 
the  right  tone  and  temper.  Whereas  before  he 
was  apt  to  be  irritable,  now  he  is  patient;  before 
he  was  thoughtless,  now  he  is  considerate ;  before 
he  was  forgetful  of  others,  now  he  remembers  them. 
There  has  come  into  the  depths  of  his  soul,  with- 
out his  knowing  how,  a  power  which  directs  his 
thoughts  and  words  and  actions  aright.  And  this 
is  what  is   meant  by  the  influence  of  the   Spirit. 


430  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

It  is  felt  in  its  results  and  fruits  —  love,  joy,  peace, 
long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness, 
and  temperance. 

If,  then,  we  do  not  wish  to  have  a  life  filled  with 
lost  opportunities,  we  must  be  every  day  prepared 
to  meet  them.  And  as  we  cannot  prepare  our- 
selves sufficiently  by  any  amount  of  discipline  or 
any  strength  of  determination,  we  have  a  right  to 
believe  that  by  looking  up  and  opening  our  soul 
to  God  he  will  give  us  the  power  of  meeting  each 
opportunity  aright. 

Without  this  faith,  how  apt  we  are  to  postpone 
and  put  off  any  difficult  work ;  to  say,  "  I  will  do 
it  at  a  more  convenient  season,  when  I  feel  more 
like  doing  it,  when  I  can  think  what  I  had  better 
say  and  do."  But  with  this  confidence  in  an  ever- 
present  help,  we  can  meet  every  occasion,  and  we 
shall  be  able  to  understand  the  meaning  of  the 
Christian  paradox,  "  When  I  am  weak,  then  am  I 
strong ; "  or  that  other  saying  of  the  Apostle,  "  The 
life  I  live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  by  faith  in  the  Son 
of  God." 

For  here  in  truth,  to  my  mind,  lies  the  empha- 
sis and  essence  of  Christ's  teaching.  He  leads 
us,  through  the  law  to  the  gospel;  through  duty 
to  trust ;  through  work  to  prayer ;  through  the 
sense  of  responsibility  to  the  sense  of  dependence. 
Christian  faith  is  neither  doctrine  nor  ritual ;  not 
a  system  of  ethics  nor  an  emotion  of  piety ;  not  pro- 
fession or  form.     It  is  the  law  of  God,  fulfilled  by 


LOST  OPPORTUNITIES.  431 

faith  in  the  love  of  God.  It  is  inflowing  strength 
with  which  to  do  our  daily  work.  It  is  the  happy 
consciousness  that  God  is  around  us  with  his  per- 
petual care  ;  beneath  us  with  his  supreme  power ; 
above  us  with  his  providential  blessing ;  within  us 
by  his  constant  inspiration. 

This  faith  is  saving  faith ;  it  saves  us  from  doubt 
and  despair.  It  fills  the  heart  with  hope.  It 
causes  each  day  to  dawn  serene  and  peaceful,  each 
night  to  close  quiet  and  full  of  content.  Trials 
may  come,  will  come  ;  lonely  hours ;  the  loss  of 
those  we  love  ;  disappointed  liopes.  But  with 
these  trials  strength  also  will  come  with  which  to 
bear  them.  More  than  this,  —  we  may  go  wrong ; 
we  may  neglect  and  forget  opportunities ;  we  may 
forget  to  pray ;  and  then  we  shall  find  ourselves 
relapsing  into  the  old  and  dreary  routine  of  weak- 
ness and  sin.  But  with  this  difference,  —  that  we 
know  how  to  overcome  the  difficulty;  we  know 
the  way  back.  We  know  that  we  have  only  to 
turn  round  and  begin  again,  with  a  greater  humility 
and  distrust  of  ourselves  ;  with  a  greater  trust  in 
God,  and  that  the  sense  of  his  forgiving  love  will 
descend  once  more  into  our  hearts.  For  forgiveness, 
too,  comes,  not  by  caprice,  but  by  law.  "If  we 
confess  our  sins,  God  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive 
us  our  sins."  Observe,  it  is  not  said,  "  he  is  merci- 
ful," but  "  he  is  faithful  and  just."  It  is,  then,  a 
law  that  when  we  are  willing  to  look  our  sins  in 
the  face,  and  see  ourselves  as  we  are,  with  that 


432  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

sight  and  confession  of  evil  we  are  again  helped  out 
of  the  evil  into  good. 

This  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  personal  re- 
ligion. This  is  the  "  life  hid  with  Christ  in  God." 
It  is  the  steady  purpose  of  doing  what  we  can  in 
the  direction  of  duty,  and  the  steady  trust  in  God 
for  power  with  which  to  do  it.  Either  of  the  two, 
alone,  is  not  enough.  But  joined  together  they 
are  sufficient  to  lift  us  above  the  danger  of  lost 
opportunities. 


XXVIII. 
THE   ETHICS   OF   THE   BALLOT-BOX. 


28 


XXYIII. 
THE  ETHICS   OF  THE   BALLOT-BOX. 


^^  And  they  prayed,  and  said,  Thou,  Lord,  which  hnow- 
est  the  hearts  of  all  men,  show  whether  of  these  two  thou 
hast  chosen.  And  they  gave  forth  their  lots,  and  the  lot 
fell  on  Matthias. ^^ 

THIS  proceeding,  recorded  in  the  Book  of  Acts, 
was  probably  the  first  example  of  voting  we 
have  in  Christendom.  Some  persons  think  that 
this  was  not  voting,  but  drawing  a  name  from  an 
urn.  But  in  that  case  it  would  not  have  been  said 
that  "  they  gave  forth  their  lots^'  for  only  one  per- 
son could  have  drawn  a  single  name  from  an  urn. 
It  is,  therefore,  the  opinion  of  Mosheim  and  others 
that  voting  is  here  meant. 

If  so,  voting  was  considered,  in  this  first  instance, 
as  a  matter  of  conscience  and  religion.  They  wished 
to  choose  a  man  whose  heart  God  would  approve  ; 
they  wished  to  elect  a  good  man,  and  they  prayed 
to  God  to  enable  them  to  do  so. 

It  is  a  duty  to  put  religion  into  politics,  and 
conscience  into  the  ballot.  The  church  and  pulpit 
should  abstain  from  party  politics ;  but  all  the  more 


436  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

should  it  lay  down  the  principles  by  which  voting 
ought  to  be  directed.  "What  rules  should  an 
honest  roan  adopt  in  voting  ? "  is  a  question  very 
proper  for  the  pulpit.  And  as  we  are  now  on  the 
eve  of  an  election,  I  propose  to  consider  this  ques- 
tion. I  have  little  to  say  of  particular  parties  or 
of  particular  persons.  But  of  parties  in  general  I 
must  say  a  word. 

In  most  free  countries  there  are  two  great  parties 
constantly  contending  for  power,  and  most  persons, 
in  order  to  make  their  vote  effectual,  must  select 
one  or  the  other.  "When  it  is  quite  certain  that 
one  or  the  other  of  two  parties  must  win,  and  the 
election  is  by  a  x^lurality,  it  is  evident  that  I  might 
almost  as  well  stay  at  home  as  vote  for  a  third 
party  or  third  candidate.  If,  indeed,  I  think  that 
the  most  important  issue  is  represented  by  this 
third  party  or  its  candidate,  then  it  may  be  my  duty 
to  vote  for  it,  year  after  year,  without  any  expecta- 
tion of  immediate  victory,  but  in  the  hope  of  seeing 
the  small  party  gradually  becoming  larger,  and  at 
last  successful.  Thus,  for  example,  I  voted,  from 
1840  to  1860,  first  for  the  Liberty  party,  then  for 
the  Free  Soil  party,  and  then  for  the  Eepublican 
party,  —  voting  in  the  minority  for  twenty  years,  in 

that 

"  friendless  contest,  lingering  long, 
Through  weary  day  and  weary  year," 

till  victory,  born  of  endurance,  came  to  us  in  1860 
in  the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 


THE  ETHICS  OF  THE  BALLOT-BOX.       437 

But  usually  we  must  vote  for  one  of  two  tickets, 
for  one  of  the  two  is  sure  to  be  elected.  What  con- 
siderations ought  to  influence  us  in  selecting  our 
party  or  our  candidate  ? 

Tlie  first  rule  is  always  to  vote  when  we  have  a 
right  to  do  so.  If  republican  institutions  fail,  it 
w^ill  be  because  the  good  men  and  wise  men  and 
educated  men  fail  to  do  their  duty  by  taking  part 
in  politics.  Bad  men,  who  make  a  trade  of  politics, 
are  sure  to  vote,  and  to  induce  others  to  do  so.  If 
educated  men  stay  at  home,  and  the  ignorant  are 
led  to  the  polls  by  crafty  demagogues,  who  is  re- 
sponsible for  bad  government  ? 

I  should  like  to  see  it  made  disgraceful  not  to 
vote.  I  should  like  to  have  public  opinion  con- 
demn those  who,  instead  of  voting,  keep  at  their 
business  or  their  pleasure,  or  who  sit  at  home 
reading  and  do  nothing  for  public  order,  freedom, 
and  good  government.  All  drinking  saloons  and 
places  of  amusement  should  be  closed.  I  would 
have  election  day  made  as  sacred  as  Sunday.  And 
every  man  should  not  only  vote  himself,  but  should 
also  see  that  his  employees  have  proper  opportunity 
given  them  to  deposit  their  vote. 

I  often  go  to  the  polls  attended  by  some  man 
who  works  for  me.  He  usually  votes  one  way,  and 
I  the  other.  "  Why  not  both  pair  off,  and  stay  at 
home  ? "  you  say.  Because  then  hoth  of  us  would 
neglect  our  duty.  I  should  be  as  sorry  not  to  have 
him  go,  as  not  to  go  myself     I  should  be  sorry  to 


438  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

have  him  vote  my  ticket  in  order  to  please  me. 
I  prefer  that  he  should  select  his  own  candidate, 
and  vote  independently ;  and  I  respect  him  for 
doino'  so. 

There  are  a  number  of  persons  —  men  of  culture 
and  leisure  —  who  refuse  to  vote  because  their 
votes  will  be  neutralized  by  those  of  foreigners  or 
uneducated  persons.  They  would  like  to  have  all 
such  persons  disfranchised ;  then,  perhaps,  they 
would  condescend  to  vote  themselves.  But  if  any 
are  to  be  disfranchised,  I  would  not  have  those  dis- 
franchised who  perform  their  duty  by  voting,  but 
those  who  neglect  it.  I  respect  the  foreigner  who, 
not  having  had  the  advantage  of  education,  prizes 
his  new  privilege  as  a  freeman,  and  is  willing  to 
pay  his  poll-tax,  and  take  time,  in  order  to  vote.  I 
respect  him  more  than  I  respect  the  man  wlio, 
having  education,  leisure,  opportunity,  thinks  him- 
self too  good  to  do  his  duty  to  his  country  and  its 
institutions. 

I  once  heard  this  anecdote  of  Judge  Parsons, 
the  great  Massachusetts  jurist  and  lawyer.  It  is 
said  that,  being  about  to  try  a  mercantile  case,  he 
ordered  a  special  jury  to  be  summoned;  and  among 
the  names  was  that  of  Colonel  Thomas  H.  Perkins, 
the  leading  merchant  of  Boston  in  that  day,  and  a 
personal  friend  of  Judge  Parsons.  When  the  officer 
made  his  return,  he  laid  down  a  fifty-dollar  bill 
before  the  judge.  "  What  is  that  ?  "  said  Parsons. 
"  Colonel  Perkins  says  he  is  very  busy  to-day,  and 


THE  ETHICS  OF  THE  BALLOT-BOX.       439 

prefers  to  pay  his  fine."  "  Take  that  hill  hack  to 
Colonel  Perkins/'  said  the  judge,  "  and  tell  him  to 
come  here  at  once ;  and  if  he  refuses,  bring  him  by 
force."  When  Colonel  Perkins  appeared,  the  judge 
looked  sternly  at  him  and  said,  "What  did  you 
mean,  sir,  by  sending  money  when  you  were  sum- 
moned to  sit  on  this  jury  ?"  Colonel  Perkins  re- 
plied, "  I  meant  no  disrespect  to  the  court,  your 
honor ;  but  I  was  extremely  busy,  fitting  out  a  ship 
for  the  East  Indies,  and  I  thought  if  I  paid  my 
fine  I  might  be  excused."  "  Fitting  out  a  ship  for 
the  East  Indies,  sir  !"  exclaimed  the  judge;  "and 
how  happens  it  that  you  are  able  to  fit  out  a  ship 
for  the  East  Indies  ? "  "  Your  honor,  I  do  not 
understand  you."  "  I  repeat,  then,  my  question : 
How  is  it  that  you  are  able  to  fit  out  a  ship  for 
the  East  Indies  ?  If  you  do  not  know,  I  will  tell 
you.  It  is  because  the  laws  of  your  country  are 
properly  administered.  If  they  were  not,  you 
would  have  no  ships.  Take  your  seat,  sir,  with 
the  jury," 

There  is  an  important  lesson  in  that  story.  Here 
are  men  inheriting,  acquiring,  retaining,  enjoying, 
large  properties  under  the  law.  They  are  asked  in 
return  to  pay  their  taxes,  and,  by  voting,  to  take 
their  share  of  the  work  of  putting  honest  and  sen- 
sible men  into  office.  But  that  is  beneath  tlieir 
dignity.  They  do  not  wish  to  mingle  with  sucli  a 
democratic  crowd.  Such  men  spend  their  time  in 
undervaluing  free  institutions,  declaiming  against 


440  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

universal  suffrage,  and  praising  the  despotic  gov- 
ernments of  Europe.  Until  the  French  Empire 
fell  through  its  own  baseness,  they  were  its  ad- 
mirers, and  wished  that  Heaven  had  given  us  such 
a  ruler  as  Napoleon  III.  Some  of  them  are  only 
contented  w^hen  they  are  on  the  boulevards  of  Paris 
or  in  the  gaming-rooms  of  Homburg;  and  it  is 
no  great  misfortune  to  our  country  to  have  them 
there. 

When  a  man  belongs  to  a  party  with  whose 
general  aims  he  is  in  sympathy,  let  him  vote  for 
this  party,  but  with  two  provisos,  —  tliat  it  shall 
advocate  good  measures  and  nominate  good  men. 
For  the  sake  of  the  party  itself,  to  keep  it  pure,  its 
members  should  refuse  to  vote  for  it  when  it  pro- 
poses bad  measures  or  offers  bad  men  as  its  candi- 
dates. That  is  the  warning,  and  the  only  warning, 
which  party  leaders  understand. 

But  when  good  men  are  on  one  side  and  impor- 
tant measures  on  the  other,  what  are  we  to  do  ? 
Perhaps  I  vote  with  a  party  in  whose  principles  I 
believe.  But  it  does  not  nominate  as  good  men  as 
the  other  party.  Shall  I  say,  "  Measures,  not  men," 
and  vote  for  my  party  ticket ;  or  shall  I  say,  "  Men, 
not  measures,"  and  vote  for  the  upright  candidate  ? 
This  question  requires  some  consideration,  for  it  is 
one  which  we  are  often  called  on  to  answer. 

First,  I  should  say  this  at  least,  very  decidedly : 
Never  be  persuaded  to  vote  for  a  bad  man,  though 
he  may  be  ever  so  able,  ever  so  popular,  and  may 


THE  ETHICS  OF  THE  BALLOT-BOX.       441 

have  the  regular  party  nomination.  Do  not  vote 
for  a  man  who  is  intemperate,  licentious,  dishonest, 
false  ;  or  a  man  who  has  been  found  guilty  of  a 
rascality.  Such  a  one  is  sure,  sooner  or  later,  to 
betray  those  who  trust  him.  Let  it  be  understood, 
once  for  all,  that  the  party  contains  a  large  body  of 
conscientious  men  who  cannot  be  allured  or  driven 
to  the  support  of  any  selfish  politician,  merely 
because  by  adroit  bargains  and  promises  he  has 
succeeded  in  getting  a  nomination.  Bolt  such 
nominations  openly,  and  they  will  not  be  repeated. 
Conscientious  men  are  not  only  the  salt  of  the  earth 
and  the  salt  of  the  Church,  but  also  the  salt  of  their 
party,  to  keep  it  from  destruction. 

Do  not  vote  for  a  man,  either,  because  he  is  smart. 
Smartness  in  a  public  man  may  do  harm  as  well  as 
good.  Smartness  is  the  American  idol,  the  god  we 
worship,  as  tlie  English  worship  power,  and  the 
French  reputation.  Endow  a  man  wdth  great 
strength,  with  powder  to  compass  his  ends,  power 
of  position,  power  of  wealth,  power  of  rank  and  of 
ofQce,  and  the  average  Englishman  falls  on  his 
knees  before  him.  Let  a  man  be  famous,  capable 
of  making  a  grand  display,  and  the  average  French- 
man will  worship  him.  Let  a  man  be  quick,  adroit, 
full  of  wit  and  ingenuity,  able  to  do  and  say  bright 
things,  and  the  average  American  looks  up  to  him 
with  devotion  and  reverence.  But  not  always.  I 
once  knew  an  instance  to  the  contrary  in  American 
politics. 


442  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

In  Jefferson  County,  Ky.,  the  Whig  majority 
some  forty  years  ago  was  overwhehiiingly  large, 
so  that  two  Whig  candidates  were  running  against 
each  other.  One  was  Thomas  F.  Marshall,  then 
in  his  prime,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  speakers, 
fall  of  wit,  and  master  of  all  the  arts  of  oratory. 
His  opponent,  Mr.  Graves,  was  a  plain  Kentucky 
farmer.  The  rival  candidates  were  expected  to 
address  the  people  every  day  and  evening  before 
election  at  each  of  the  voting  precincts.  Every 
night  the  people  collected  in  crowds  to  hear  Tom 
Marshall  speak,  and  kept  him  talking  to  them  all 
the  evening.  Graves  they  would  hardly  listen  to 
at  all.  Marshall  was  quite  sure  of  success,  but 
when  the  day  of  election  came  Graves  was  elected 
by  a  large  majority.  The  people  had  confidence  in 
him  ;  they  knew  he  was  an  honest,  upright  man,  a 
man  of  simple  common  sense.  Marshall  they  knew 
to  be  a  man  whose  moral  habits  made  him  un- 
reliable. They  liked  to  hear  him  speak,  and  were 
willing  to  have  him  entertain  them.  But  they 
could  not  trust  him.  What  happened  then  may 
happen  again.  I  suppose  the  people  of  Massachu- 
setts are  as  sagacious  in  such  matters  as  the  people 
of  Kentucky. 

A  candidate  who  beforehand  makes  great  promises 
of  what  he  will  do  if  he  is  elected  is  not  a  safe  man 
to  vote  for.  Great  promises  are  apt  to  be  followed 
by  small  performance.  Nor  is  it  well  to  vote  for  a 
man  whose  character  you  do  not  approve  and  with 


THE  ETHICS  OF  THE  BALLOT-BOX.        443 

whose  political  theories  you  do  not  agree,  merely 
for  the  sake  of  a  change.  A  change  may  be  for 
the  worse  instead  of  for  the  better.  If  you  are 
tired  of  riding  too  long  a  time  in  a  carriage,  you  do 
not  wish  the  driver  to  overturn  it  for  the  sake  of  a 
chancre.     You  leave  the  carriao-e. 

There  are  times  when  measures  are  the  most 
important  question ;  when  parties  are  divided  in 
regard  to  some  great  issues,  as  they  were  during 
the  antislavery  struggle  ;  then  vote  for  "  measures, 
not  men."  Vote  for  the  party  which  advocates  the 
wisest  and  best  measures.  At  other  times  there 
are  no  such  important  issues,  no  great  ideas  at 
stake ;  but  on  one  side  there  are  good,  true,  faithful 
men  ;  on  the  other  untrustworthy,  selfish  politicians. 
The  rule  then  is  to  be  reversed,  and  we  must  say 
"  Men,  not  measures." 

As  regards  measures,  the  principal  political  re- 
forms now  required,  in  order  to  bring  prosperity 
to  the  nation,  are :  (1)  More  economy  in  public 
matters;  (2)  A  fixed  and  stable  currency;  (3)  Re- 
form in  the  appointment  of  officials ;  (4)  Such 
measures  as  will  tend  to  prevent  pauperism,  vice, 
and  crime  in  the  community. 

The  people  have  been  growing  extravagant  for 
many  years,  as  individuals,  as  towns,  as  States. 
Economy  in  public  matters  is  very  necessary,  in 
order  to  lighten  taxation  and  restore  prosperous 
times.  There  has  been  waste  in  State  affairs,  and 
we  need  economy  there. 


444  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

And  to  bring  about  economy  in  tlie  State  we 
need  legislatures  and  governors  who  do  not  be- 
lieve in  jobs,  in  rewarding  friends  and  punishing 
enemies,  in  making  the  public  purse  the  means  of 
private  gain.  We  want  an  honest  governor  and 
an  honest  legislature,  rather  than  smart  and  tricky 
men. 

The  public  and  private  waste  has  come  from 
the  appearance  of  wealth  caused  by  an  inflated 
and  irredeemable  currency.  The  one  great  source 
of  waste  has  been  the  derangement  of  prices 
caused  by  the  suspension  of  payment,  and  the  sub- 
stitution of  vast  quantities  of  promises  to  pay  in 
the  place  of  money.  When  the  Government  re- 
sumes specie  payment,  that  is,  when  it  is  ready  to 
pay  its  debts,  good  times  will  slowly  but  steadily 
return.  Kesumption  will  restore  confidence,  and 
confidence,  though  a  plant  of  slow  growth,  will 
eventually  become  a  great  tree  of  national  pros- 
perity. We  ought,  therefore,  to  vote  against  every 
party,  every  man,  and  every  measure  whose  success 
would  plunge  us  again  into  the  vast  gulf  from  which 
we  have  been  painfully  emerging,  —  a  gulf  of  misery, 
dansjer,  dishonor. 

One  great  danger  at  the  present  time  is  from  that 
sentiment  which  is  rapidly  extending  itself  and 
growing  into  a  powerful  influence  in  politics,  the 
fundamental  idea  of  which  is  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  Government  to  make  the  people  rich  and  happy. 
Men  believe  that  if  the  Government  would  only 


THE  ETHICS  OF  THE  BALLOT-BOX.      445 

make  a  great  deal  of  paper  money  and  build  public 
works,  so  as  to  distribute  it  in  vast  quantities,  the 
old  prosperity  would  return.  They  do  not  want 
redemption,  —  that  is,  that  Government  should  pay 
its  debt;  they  do  not  believe  in  paying  interest; 
they  do  not  want  the  national  debt  paid  in  gold, 
and  their  fundamental  idea  is  that,  somehow.  Gov- 
ernment can  make  every  man  rich  and  happy  if  it 
will  only  do  its  duty.  Government  should  own 
the  railroads  and  run  them;  Government  do  the 
banking,  carry  on  the  factories,  and  furnish  labor 
at  high  prices  to  all  the  people. 

In  many  places  it  is  the  Democratic  party  which 
holds  these  notions,  so  wholly  opposed  to  its  own 
traditions.  The  old  Democratic  party,  from  the 
time  of  Jefferson  to  Jackson,  believed  in  hard 
money;  was  opposed  to  the  Government  having 
anything  to  do  with  internal  improvement,  and 
wished  the  work  of  the  Government  to  be  limited 
to  the  simple  protection  of  property  and  person. 
General  Jackson  desired  that  the  State  and  local 
banks  should  issue  the  paper  currency,  and  that 
the  Government  should  issue  no  money  but  gold. 
Even  so  small  a  work  as  a  stone  road,  built  by  the 
United  States  from  Cumberland  in  Maryland  to 
Columbus  in  Ohio,  was  opposed  by  the  whole  De- 
mocracy as  being  beyond  the  constitutional  power  of 
the  Government.  That  was  nearer  the  truth  tlian 
the  present  madness,  which  wishes  the  Government 
to  do  everything. 


446  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

Good  men  of  all  parties  should  unite  against  such 
delusions.  It  is  needed,  in  the  interest  of  morality, 
that  Government  should  be  confined  to  the  limit  of 
protecting  life  and  property  ;  the  rights  of  persons  ; 
the  prevention  of  crime ;  the  care  of  those  unable 
to  work,  and  doing  for  the  safety  and  peace  of  the 
people  what  individuals  are  unable  to  do.  But 
Government  should  have  nothing  to  do  with  money- 
making  enterprises;  with  building  or  subsidizing 
railroads  or  steamships ;  with  boring  tunnels  ;  with 
mining  or  manufacturing  enterprises.  When  it 
undertakes  such  work,  corruption  sets  in  like  a 
flood. 

When  we  go  to  vote,  let  us  remember  that  we 
are  fulfilling  a  sacred  duty.  In  this  country,  all 
our  safety  and  hope  is  in  the  virtue  and  intelli- 
gence of  the  people.  To  produce  this  intelligence 
and  maintain  this  virtue,  we  must  have  a  religion 
that  goes  into  all  parts  of  life,  —  into  politics,  into 
business,  into  amusements,  into  work,  study,  and 
play. 

It  is  for  this  reason  among  others  that  I  rejoice 
in  every  proof  of  the  advance  of  a  liberal  and 
rational  Christianity.  It  is  the  only  one  which 
can  save  the  nation.  We  need  a  larger,  deeper, 
broader,  higher  faith  than  the  world  has  ever  known 
since  the  days  of  Christ  and  his  apostles.  We  need 
to  preach  Christ  and  him  crucified  in  a  higher  sense 
than  that  of  a  vicarious  atonement.  Christ  is  cruci- 
fied to-day  when  injustice  is  done  the  lowest  of  his 


THE  ETHICS  OF  THE  BALLOT-BOX.       447 

servants ;  when  demagogues  mislead  the  people ; 
when  selfish  men  get  power  in  order  to  use  it  only 
for  their  own  advantage ;  when  hypocrites  profess 
to  be  reformers. 

I  ask  no  man  to  leave  his  party  and  join  mine, 
for  I  have  no  party,  I  belong  to  no  party.  I  shall 
vote  with  the  Eepublicans  as  long  as  they  are  on 
the  side  of  honesty,  freedom,  and  true  reform,  and 
give  us  a  real  reformer  as  their  candidate.  But  I 
do  not  belong  to  that,  or  any  other  party.  To  be- 
long to  any  party  is  to  be  a  slave,  and  I  like  no  kind 
of  slavery.  But  I  will  vote  with  any  party  which 
votes  for  truth,  for  the  nation's  honor,  safety,  and 
peace.  I  only  ask  otliers  to  do  what  I  do  myself,  — 
to  vote  with  the  party  which  is  now  for  the  right. 
When  it  goes  for  the  wrong  I  shall  leave  it,  and 
advise  others  to  do  the  same. 

The  election  before  us  is  a  serious  one ;  one  of 
grave  import  to  the  State  and  nation.^  It  will 
decide  whether  Massachusetts  shall  stand  hereafter 
as  she  has  stood  heretofore,  —  for  the  highest  ideas 
of  the  nation ;  for  a  pure  government,  sound  laws, 
honesty,  honor ;  or  whether  it  shall  utter  an  uncer- 
tain sound  on  these  points.  The  result  will  show 
whether  Massachusetts  is  faithful  to  her  grand  tra- 
ditions ;  whether  she  resists  every  attempt  to  lure 
her  from  tlie  path  of  justice ;  whether  she  believes 
in  the  union  of  all  classes  for  the  public  good,  and 
rebukes  all  attempts  at  setting  the  poor  against  the 

1  This  was  said  in  November,  1878. 


448  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

rich,  or  those  who  labor  with  their  hands  against 
those  who  labor  with  their  brains  for  the  common 
good.  I  have  no  doubt,  no  hesitation,  no  uncer- 
tainty, as  to  the  result.  The  State  of  Hancock 
and  Adams,  of  Quincy,  Charles  Sumner,  John  A. 
Andrew,  is  not  to  be  deceived  to  its  ruin.  I  do  not 
think  that  God  means  to  disgrace  us  by  leaving  us 
to  follow  cunningly  devised  fables,  or  to  take  for 
leaders  such  men  as  the  Apostle  described  as  seek- 
ing to  lead  the  Church  in  his  time,  "  proud,  ignorant, 
doting  about  questions  and  strifes  of  words,  whence 
cometh  envy,  strife,  railings,  evil  surmisings,  per- 
verse disputings  of  men  of  corrupt  minds,  evil 
seducers,  who  wax  worse  and  worse,  deceiving  and 
being  deceived." 

In  that  great  sea-fight,  in  which  Nelson  fell  in 
the  arms  of  victory,  he  hoisted,  as  his  last  signal 
before  battle,  the  flag  with  the  motto,  "England 
expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty."  Let  our  motto 
be  not,  "  Massachusetts  expects  every  man  to  do  liis 
duty,"  but  "  God  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty." 
Let  us  show  our  gratitude  to  him  who  has  given  us 
freedom,  peace,  plenty  in  our  homes,  noble  institu- 
tions, and  a  grand  history,  by  transmitting  them 
unimpaired  to  our  children  and  our  children's  chil- 
dren. Our  fathers,  brothers,  and  sons  went  to  fight 
and  die  to  save  the  land  from  slavery  and  disunion ; 
let  us  live  and  work  to  save  it  from  dishonesty  and 
dishonor. 


XXIX. 
THE   BIBLE   A   PANORAMA   OF   LIFE. 


29 


XXIX. 

THE  BIBLE  A  PANORAMA   OF  LIFE. 


'' Agam,  taking  him  tip  into  an  exceeding  high  moun- 
tain, he  shoived  him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and  the 
glory  of  them,  in  a  moment  of  time. ^^ 

THE  advantage  of  a  view  from  a  high  place  is, 
that  you  see  the  relative  positions  of  all  the 
objects  around  you.  You  have  a  map  and  a  land- 
scape in  one.  Looking  over  Boston  from  the 
cupola  of  the  State  House,  you  observe  at  a  glance 
its  houses,  squares,  and  public  buildings ;  the  sea, 
harbor,  and  islands ;  the  course  of  Charles  River ; 
the  direction  taken  by  the  railroads ;  the  density  of 
the  different  centres  of  population  ;  and  the  posi- 
tion and  comparative  size  of  East  Boston,  South 
Boston,  Roxbury,  and  Charlestown.  You  may  live 
in  the  city  for  years,  and  not  have  as  comprehensive 
and  accurate  an  idea  of  it  as  you  will  gain  in  half 
an  hour  by  looking  down  on  it  from  such  an  eleva- 
tion. Hence  the  importance  for  travellers,  that 
in  visiting  foreign  places  they  should  begin  their 
observations  by  obtaining  a  view  from  some  central 
and  lofty  position. 


452  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

The  same  is  true  in  the  world  of  thought.  A 
just  insight  into  the  relations  of  clail}^  actions  can 
be  best  gained  by  rising  into  the  realm  of  ideas, 
universal  truths,  large  principles.  Your  two  chil- 
dren quarrel  about  the  possession  of  a  plaything. 
To  settle  that  dispute,  it  is  necessary  that  you 
should  explain  to  them  the  rights  of  property, — 
that  is,  ascend  into  the  region  of  everlasting  justice. 
Some  one  asks  you  what  you  think  of  Browning's 
poetry  or  George  Eliot's  novels.  Before  you  can 
give  a  satisfactory  answer,  you  must  consider  what 
makes  a  good  novel  or  poem  ;  what  is  the  essential 
quality  needed  in  each  ;  how  many  different  kinds 
there  may  be,  and  which  is  the  best.  You  must 
take  a  comprehensive  view  of  literature  and  art,  — 
in  short,  rise  to  a  position  which  overlooks  the 
whole  field.  Then  you  may  have  some  basis  for 
your  criticism ;  otherwise  it  is  only  guesswork,  or 
the  expression  of  personal  partiality. 

Such  a  wide  view,  which  circles  the  whole  hori- 
zon, we  call  a  panorama.  I  hope  that  most  of  you 
have  seen  the  panorama  of  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg. 
You  walk  through  a  dark  passage,  go  up  a  few 
stairs,  and  are  at  once  in  the  midst  of  a  summer 
landscape,  with  bright  sky,  far-reaching  plains,  over 
which  you  look  for  miles  to  the  distant  woods  and 
hills.  You  have  the  battle  around  you,  but  with- 
out its  distracting^  tumult.  You  examine  at  your 
leisure  the  main  points  of  that  great  struggle  whicli 
was   one   of  the   decisive   battles   of  history,  —  a 


THE  BIBLE  A  PANORAMA   OF  LIFE.      453 

turning-point  in  the  progress  of  mankind ;  and  you 
learn  more  about  it  as  a  whole  in  an  hour  than  the 
actors  who  took  part  in  it  could  understand  at  the 
time.  You  go  away  in  a  serious  but  grateful  mood, 
with  the  thought  in  your  mind  which  Bryant  had 
on  another  battle-field  :  — 

"  Oh,  never  shall  the  land  forget 

Where  gushed  the  best  blood  of  her  brave,  — 
Gushed,  warm  with  hope  and  promise  yet. 
Upon  the  soil  they  died  to  save." 

Some  books  give  a  panorama  of  life.  What  an 
infinite  variety  of  characters,  situations,  historic 
events,  pass  before  us  in  the  novels  of  Scott,  the 
plays  of  Shakspeare,  and  the  histories  of  He- 
rodotus !  But  more  than  all  we  find  this  in 
the  Bible.  It  differs  from  other  books  in  giving 
us  at  the  same  time  the  outward  action  and  the 
principle  which  underlies  it,  human  conduct  and 
the  divine  law  which  rewards  or  condemns,  the 
progress  of  nations  and  the  Providence  which 
leads  them  on. 

We  rightly  call  the  Bible  a  revelation  of  God,  — 
of  God's  will,  God's  law,  God's  love  and  grace.  It 
brings  ns  nearer  to  God  than  other  religious  books ; 
that  is  why  it  still  represents  the  religion  of  the 
most  advanced  races  of  mankind,  and  is  to  them 
their  holy  Scripture.  But  the  Bible  is  also  a  reve- 
lation of  man,  of  human  nature  in  its  vast  variety 
and  essential  unity.  It  shows,  with  inflexible  sin- 
cerity, the  failings  of  the  saint  and  the  redeeming 


454  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

qualities  in  the  sinner.  If  we  could  forget  for  a 
while  that  it  is  a  religious  book,  and  read  it  as  a 
collection  of  interesting  pictures  from  past  history 
and  biography,  it  would  acquire  a  new  and  peculiar 
fascination.  We  should  find  it  giving  the  heights 
and  depths  of  human  nature,  and  the  strangest  ex- 
periences of  man  in  the  most  vivid  coloring.  We 
should  see  how  truly 

"  Out  of  the  heart  of  nature  rolled 
The  burdens  of  the  Bible  old." 

Without  being  less  supernatural,  it  would  be  in- 
finitely more  natural.  We  can  trace  in  the  Bible 
tlie  progress  of  human  society.  We  have  pastoral 
pictures  of  the  wandering  nomads,  moving  with 
their  camels,  sheep,  and  slaves,  from  one  grassy 
region  to  another,  pitching  their  black  tents  by  the 
side  of  fountains  and  streams.  The  patriarchal 
times  rise  before  us,  each  family  surrounding  its 
head  and  chief,  who  is  at  once  prophet,  priest,  and 
kiucj.  Then  we  see  the  Israelites  breakino^  into  Pal- 
estine,  as  the  Goths  and  Saxons  and  Normans  broke 
into  Southern  Europe,  destroying  the  old  civiliza- 
tion, but  planting  the  seeds  of  something  better. 
In  the  Book  of  Judges  we  have  a  picture  of  society 
disorganized,  a  state  of  anarchy,  where  every  man 
does  what  is  right  in  his  own  eyes.  Anarchy  usu- 
ally produces  despotism,  and  so  the  anarchy  of  the 
Book  of  Judges  precedes  the  autocracy  of  Saul, 
David,  and  Solomon.  We  read  how,  under  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah,  Hebrew  society  is  reorganized  as  a 


THE  BIBLE  A  PANORAMA   OF  LIFE.      455 

hierarchy,  under  laws  administered  by  a  priesthood. 
Society  thus  organized  by  priests  becomes  intol- 
erant, full  of  bitter  zeal,  and  at  last  is  swept  from 
the  earth  by  the  secular  power  of  Eome.  Mean- 
time, its  truths,  its  sincere  religious  faith,  its  mono- 
theism, its  moral  law,  passed  like  leaven  into  the 
social  life  of  the  Eoman  Empire,  and  worked  se- 
cretly within  the  mass  till  the  wliole  was  leavened. 
Thus,  in  the  Bible,  we  have  a  panorama  of  the  his- 
tory of  social  human  iiiptitutions,  with  the  expla- 
nation added  of  the  causes  of  these  results.  It  is 
like  one  of  those  clocks  with  a  glass  face,  where  we 
can  see  not  only  the  movement  of  the  hands,  but 
the  springs  and  the  wheels  that  produce  the  motion 
and  regulate  it. 

Individual  life,  in  all  its  forms,  also  appears  in 
the  Bible.  This  book  has  been  found  fault  with 
because  its  heroes  and  saints  were  not  perfect ;  be- 
cause Abraham  and  Peter  lied,  and  Samuel  killed 
his  enemy  in  cold  blood,  and  Elijah  massacred  the 
prophets  of  Baal,  and  the  apostles  quarrelled  and 
were  unable  to  work  together.  But  that  shows  that 
it  is  true  to  life,  —  for  good  men  have  their  faults, 
often  grave  ones.  The  Bible  gives  no  picture  of 
perfect  men,  save  in  a  single  spotless  example.  It 
shows  us  the  w^orld  as  it  is,  —  shadows  darkening  the 
brightest  scenes,  sunshine  illuminating  the  blackest. 
The  type  of  lovely  womanly  fidelity  appears  in 
Euth,  who  was  not  an  Israelite,  but  a  Moabite.  A 
Eoman  centurion  comes  forward  as  an  instance  of 


456  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

faith ;  a  woman  of  Phoenicia  as  an  example  of  con- 
fiding hope  ;  Balaam,  the  vates  of  some  far-off  Syrian 
tribe,  is  given  a  high  place  in  the  goodly  fellowship 
of  the  prophets ;  Melchizedek,  a  Bedouin  sheikh 
and  priest,  is  reverenced  by  Abraham,  the  friend  of 
God.  Thus  the  Bible,  like  Jesus,  goes  among  pub- 
licans and  sinners,  and  honors  goodness  wherever  it 
finds  it. 

The  Bible  also  gives  us  the  history  of  religion 
from  its  lowest  forms  to  its  highest.  We  see  the 
gradual  progress  of  this  great  sentiment  through 
fetichism,  idolatry,  polytheism,  and  monotheism. 
The  Jews  themselves  present  an  example  of  this. 
Under  Moses,  they  w^orshipped  as  a  fetich  a  golden 
calf  The  brazen  serpent  became  a  fetich,  so  that 
the  zealous  Hezekiah  broke  in  pieces  this  venerable 
relic,  which  had  been  sacredly  preserved  from  the 
time  of  Moses,  because  the  children  of  Israel  burnt 
incense  before  it,  and  "he  called  it  Nehushtan,  a 
piece  of  brass."  The  Israelites  went  through  the 
stage  of  polytheism  as  well  as  that  of  idolatry ;  for 
many  centuries  they  worshipped  the  sun,  moon,  and 
stars,  as  their  neighbors  did.  Even  monotheism 
w^as  a  slow  development.  With  Abraham  it  meant 
not  the  worship  of  Jehovah  as  the  only  God,  but 
Jehovah  as  the  most  high  God ;  the  others  might 
be  true  Gods,  but  they  were  inferior  to  Jehovah. 
With  David  the  gods  of  the  nations  became  mere 
idols,  having  some  magical  power,  perhaps,  but  not 
divine,  only  demonic.     But  Paul  saw  more  deeply. 


THE  BIBLE  A  PANORAMA   OF  LIFE.      457 

He  said  that  an  idol  was  nothing,  —  neither  to  be 
loved  nor  hated.  The  worship  of  Jehovah  was  at 
first  that  of  a  jealous  God,  who  would  punish  any 
personal  slight  or  wrong ;  who  had  his  favorites  and 
enemies ;  who  had  a  local  habitation  in  the  ark, 
tabernacle,  and  Jewish  temple ;  a  God  who  could 
swear  in  his  wratli,  and  repent  that  he  had  made 
man.  But  with  these  crude  conceptions  was  a 
leaven  of  purer  thought,  and  it  passed  up,  by  a 
process  of  development,  till  the  time  came  when 
Jesus  told  the  woman  of  Samaria,  "God  is  spirit, 
and  they  who  worship  him,  must  worship  him  in 
spirit  and  in  trutli."  Jesus  declared  that  God  is 
the  universal  Father,  whose  sun  shines  on  evil  and 
good,  and  whose  rain  falls  on  the  just  and  the  un- 
just; the  Father  who  welcomes  back  his  prodigal 
son ;  who  has  many  mansions  in  his  vast  house  of 
creation,  and  who  will  provide  a  suitable  home 
for  every  child.  When  theologians  teach  that  the 
whole  of  the  Bible  is  tlie  word  of  God,  and  that 
the  sayings  of  Job  are  as  divine  as  those  of  Jesus, 
they  prevent  men  from  seeing  the  immense  advance 
which  the  Gospel  of  Christ  has  made  on  all  tlie 
beliefs  that  preceded  it. 

So,  too,  we  may  observe  in  the  Bible  the  progress 
not  only  of  religious  faith,  but  of  pious  emotion. 
For  thousands  of  years  piety  expressed  itself  by 
sacrifices,  by  giving  the  best  thing  men  had  to 
God,  in  order  to  please  him.  Even  the  wise  Solo- 
mon thought  to  gratify  God  by  offering  him  not  a 


458  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION.     • 

hecatomb,  but  ten  hecatombs  of  iunocent  victims. 
Abraham  fancied,  till  a  higher  inspiration  taught 
him  better,  that  it  was  his  duty  to  sacrifice  his  first- 
born child.  If  he  were  unable  to  do  that,  he  doubted 
whether  his  faith  could  be  as  powerful  as  that  of 
the  neighboring  kings,  who  offered  their  children 
to  Baal  and  Moloch.  We  see  emotional  piety  in 
David,  —  ritualistic  and  ceremonial  piety  displayed 
in  the  grand  ceremonies  of  the  Temple,  —  the  piety 
of  poetic  enthusiasm  culminating  in  Isaiah;  the 
piety  of  mysticism  glorified  in  John  ;  of  plain,  prac- 
tical morality  in  James ;  of  intellectual  insight  in 
Paul;  and  in  Jesus  the  supreme  liarmony  of  heart, 
intellect,  and  will,  which  made  him  able  to  say,  "  I 
and  my  father  are  one,"  and  al)le.  to  believe  that 
his  disciples  might  reach  this  same  height  and  be 
one  with  himself  and  his  Father. 

As  the  race  goes  forward,  step  by  step,  in  its 
slow  ascent  from  barbarism  to  humanity,  we  all,  as 
individuals,  pass  through  like  stages  of  experience. 
At  times  can  we  not  sympathize  with  fetich  wor- 
ship ?  Do  we  not  keep  in  some  hidden  shrine  the 
plaything  of  our  dead  child,  —  the  little  ring,  or 
pencil,  or  withered  flower,  sanctified  to  us  by  the 
sacred  memories  of  the  past  ?  At  times  are  we 
not  all  idolaters,  finding  something  so  great  and 
wonderful  in  this  or  that  man  of  genius,  that  we 
give  ourselves  up  without  reserve  to  be  led  by  him  ? 
The  halo  we  saw  around  his  brow  slowly  fades  into 
the   light  of  common   day ;   but  he  has  helped  us 


THE  BIBLE  A   PANORAMA   OF  LIFE.      459 

even  through  our  iiiidiscriminating  and  uncritical 
idolatry.  So  have  I  myself  been  aided  by  my  un- 
reserved and  unquestioniug  admiration  for  such 
writers  as  Milton,  Coleridge,  Goethe,  Shelley,  Car- 
lyle,  Channing,  Emerson.  Now  I  can  see  defects 
in  them  which  I  was  unable  then  to  notice ;  but 
even  such  idolatry,  if  temporary,  may  help  us 
onward.  Sometimes  we  are  mystics,  with  Sweden- 
borg,  Plotinus,  and  Jacob  Boehmen ;  sometimes 
we  share  the  devotional  inspiration  of  George 
Herbert,  Thomas  a  Kempis,  or  Fenelon ;  some- 
times we  are  seized  with  the  spirit  of  monastic 
sacrifice  and  seclusion,  or  become  devout  accord- 
ing to  some  sacramental  and  liturgic  method.  And 
to  each  of  these  moods  of  piety  the  Bible  brings 
some  text  or  example  for  our  encouragement,  and 
some  warning  to  keep  us  from  going  too  far.  It 
kindly  sympathizes  with  our  childish  enthusiasms, 
and  gently  leads  up  through  them  to  a  broader  and 
loftier  plane  of  faitli. 

Have  there  not  been  hours  when  we  were  so  op- 
pressed by  the  sense  of  our  poverty  of  heart ;  our 
coldness,  selfishness,  self-indulgence ;  our  sluggish 
inactivity;  our  easy  lapse  into  folly  and  sin,  that 
no  words  seemed  adequate  to  express  this  but  the 
extravagant  penitence  of  the  Psalmist :  "  I  was 
shapen  in  iniquity ; "  "  Tearfulness  and  trembling 
have  come  over  me,  horror  has  overwhelmed  me ; " 
"  Oh  that  1  had  wings  like  a  dove,  then  could  I  fly 
away  and  be  at  rest ''  ? 


460  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

And  have  there  not  been  hours  when  the  myste- 
ries of  life  lay  heavy  on  our  souls ;  when  the  miseries, 
wrongs,  and  woes  of  humanity  seemed  too  hard  to 
endure  ?  Then  we  could  understand  how  Jesus 
bore  the  sins  of  mankind  on  his  own  heart,  and 
how  even  to  him,  for  a  moment,  his  Father's  love 
disappeared,  so  that  he  could  find  no  words  to 
express  his  sense  of  loneliness  but  those  of  the 
Psalm,  "  My  God !  my  God !  why  hast  thou  for- 
saken me  ? "  Then,  perhaps,  we  read  the  Book  of 
Job,  and  we  feel  tliat  around  his  soul,  as  around 
ours,  a  midnight  darkness  of  contradiction  had 
gathered,  and  the  air  was  "  thick  with  universal 
pain."  He  also  struggled  with  the  same  problems  as 
we;  he  could  not  see  the  justice  of  God  when  the 
good  suffered  and  the  wicked  were  triumphant. 

And  sometimes  we  go  down  to  a  lower  circle  of 
this  Dantesc[ue  hell,  and  find  ourselves  by  the  side 
of  the  greatest  pessimist  the  world  has  known, 
the  author  of  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes.  "  Vanity  of 
vanity,  all  is  vanity.  What  profit  hath  a  man  of 
all  his  labor  under  the  sun  ? "  What  is  the  use 
of  anything  ?  All  things  go  round  in  an  unmean- 
ing circle,  coming  from  nowhere  and  going  nowhere. 
"The  sun  rises  and  goes  down,  and  hastes  to  the 
place  where  he  arose.  The  thing  which  has  been  is 
that  which  shall  be,  and  there  is  no  new  thing  under 
the  sun."  "  So,"  says  he,  "  I  hated  life  ;  1  hated  all 
the  labor  I  had  taken  under  the  sun.  I  went  about 
to  cause  my  heart  to  despair  of  all  the  labor  it  had 


THE  BIBLE  A  PANORAMA   OF  LIFE.       461 

taken.     For  all  man's   days  are  sorrows,  and  the 
wise  man  and  fool  are  alike." 

From  this  black  depth  of  despair  we  come  up 
into  the  sunshine  and  glory  of  the  Gospels.  In 
them  reigns  the  peace  of  God,  the  rest  of  the  soul, 
—  a  trust  which  goes  so  deep  that  no  misery  or 
mystery  can  disturb  it.  We  have  now  risen  with 
Christ,  not  upon  the  mountain  where  the  tempter 
took  him,  hoping  to  dazzle  his  eyes  with  worldly 
glory ;  but  to  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  where 
a  heavenly  glory  irradiates  the  earthly  features, 
where  we  talk  in  spirit  with  Lawgiver  and  Prophet, 
where  God  is  that  Light  in  whom  there  is  no  dark- 
ness at  all,  that  Love  which  evermore  teaches  us  to 
love  in  return,  and  the  Grace 

"  That  finds  her  way, 
The  speediest  of  his  winged  messengers, 
To  visit  all  his  creatures,  and  to  all 
Comes  unpre vented,  unimplored,  unsought." 

We  stand  on  this  Mount  of  Transfiguration  with 
Christ  and  his  apostles  when  we  have  within  us 
the  spirit  that  was  in  them.  Then  we  can  converse, 
not  only  with  Moses  and  Elias,  but  with  David  and 
Solomon,  Paul  and  John.  With  Moses  we  see  the 
majesty  of  divine  law,  —  the  law  of  the  two  tables 
which  binds  heaven  to  earth  and  earth  to  heaven. 
In  our  hours  of  sorrow  and  disappointment,  when 
our  best  hopes  seem  defeated,  we  go  away  with 
Elijah  to  some  lonely  wilderness  of  thought,  where 
we  complain  that  the  world  is  all  wrong,  that  good 


462  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

people  have  no  chance,  that  iniquity  triumphs,  and 
that  only  a  few  are  left,  like  ourselves,  wlio  have 
not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal.  But  then  we  are 
taught,  as  Elijah  was  taught,  that  there  are  a  great 
many  more  righteous  and  innocent  souls  than  those 
we  know,  and  that  while  evil  is  like  the  earth- 
quake and  fire  and  tempest,  goodness  whispers  in 
human  hearts  with  a  still  and  small  voice.  In  our 
hours  of  sorrow,  or  while  sin  lies  heavy  on  us, 
David's  words  come  to  our  lij)s,  and  we  say,  "  Why 
art  thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul,  and  why  art  thou 
disquieted  within  me  ?  Hope  thou  in  God,  for  I 
shall  yet  praise  him,  —  him,  my  deliverer  and  my 
God  ! "  And  sometimes  we  are  carried  up  to  heights 
unattainable  bv  our  own  streuo-th,  on  the  stronej 
pinion  of  apostolic  inspiration,  and  can  say  with 
Paul,  out  of  his  deep  experience  interpreting  our 
own,  that  we  also  can  serve  God  "  in  patience,  in 
necessities,  in  labors;  by  pureness,  by  knowledge, 
by  long-suffering,  by  kindness,  by  love  unfeigned,  by 
the  word  of  truth,  by  honor  and  dishonor,  by  evil 
report  and  good  report;  as  dying,  and  behold  we 
live ;  as  sorrowful,  yet  always  rejoicing ;  as  poor, 
yet  making  many  rich ;  as  having  nothing,  and  yet 
possessing  all  tilings." 

Thus,  whenever  we  rise  higher,  by  a  good  pur- 
pose, by  an  earnest  desire  for  what  is  true  and  right, 
we  find  the  Bible  not  our  master,  but  our  friend. 
It  becomes  a  companion  on  our  way ;  it  gives  us  the 
words  in  which  we  can  best  express  our  experiences 


THE  BIBLE  A  PANORAMA   OF  LIFE.       463 

and  our  prayers ;  it  shows  us  our  own  nature  and 
needs.  There  are  many  noble  Scriptures  in  the 
world,  —  the  Vedas,  the  Avesta,  the  writings  of  the 
Buddhists,  the  Eddas  of  the  North,  —  and  all  liave 
sometliing  good  for  the  races  wliich  revere  them. 
But,  having  given  many  years  to  the  study  of  tliose 
ethnic  Bibles,  I  come  back  to  our  own  with  more 
interest  and  a  higher  appreciation.  Tlie  Old  and 
New  Testaments  go  down  deeper  into  the  sonl's 
needs ;  go  up  higher  in  their  teaching  of  divine 
truth ;  go  out  more  widely  in  a  comprehensive  pic- 
ture of  human  life  and  earthly  experience.  As  we 
read  them,  they  take  possession  of  ns,  and  yet  be- 
long to  us.  All  are  ours,  whether  Paul,  Apollos,  or 
Peter,  or  Jesus  ;  for  the  sacred  words  of  Jesus  seem 
■uttered  for  oui*  own  every-day  needs  !  Jesns  is  our 
own  friend  and  Saviour;  we  belong  to  him  and 
he  belongs  to  us.  Across  the  ages  he  speaks  his 
friendly  words ;  down  the  long  series  of  years  he 
calls  us  to  himself ;  he  is  not  only  master  and  Lord, 
but  brother  and  companion. 

From  off  the  mountain's  lonely  height 

We  gaze  with  glad  surprise. 
Where,  in  the  shadow  and  the  light, 

The  broadening  landscape  lies. 
Fields,  forests,  rivers,  gleam  and  shine; 

The  wide-spread  world  surrounds  us ; 
But  still  the  pale  horizon  line 

Encircles,  limits,  bounds  us. 
Ascend  the  vaster  height  of  soul, 

The  mount  of  ancient  story, 


464  E VERY-DAY  RELIGION. 

And  all  earth's  lands  and  realms  unroll 

Their  map  of  gloom  and  glory. 
Prophets  and  saints  with  mortals  talk, 

And  seers  of  every  nation 
Upon  this  mount  with  Jesus  walk,  — 

Mount  of  Transfiguration. 
No  human  weakness  limits  place ; 

No  earthly  bounds  can  hold  us  ; 
No  hard  restraint  of  Time  and  Space, 

When  Thought's  high  realms  enfold  us. 


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A    SEA     CHANGE ;    or,    Love's    Stowaway.      A    Comic 

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THE  VIRGINIA   CAMPAIGN  OF  GENERAL  POPE 

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SONGS  AND  BALLADS  OF  THE  OLD  PLANTA- 
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"  Uncle  Remus's  "  legends  have  created  a  strong  demand  for  his  songs, 
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This  monumental  work  of  patient  industry  and  iron  diligence  is  indispen- 
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Hon.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  John  G.  Whittieb, 

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Rev.  E.  E,  Hale,  D.D.,  Rev   A.  P.  Peabody,  D.D., 

Hon  ROBERT  C.  WiNTHROP,  Col.  T.  W.  Higginson, 

Hon  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  Professor  Asa  Gray, 

Admiral  G.  H.  Preble,  Gen.  F.  W.  Palfrey, 
Henry  Cabot  Lodgk. 


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[[^=*  All  these  books  are  equally  suited  to  the  use  of  the  student,  and  that  of 
the  general  reader.  They  should  have  a  place  in  every  library,  public  or  private. 
Price  75  cents  each. 

I.  SCOTT'S  LADY   OF  THE  LAKE. 

The  text  is  correctly  printed  for  the  first  time  in  fifty  years.  Ihenotes 
(88  pp.)  include  Scott's  and  Lockharfs,  and  are  fuller  than  in  any  other 
edition,  English  or  American.  The  illustrations  are  mainly  ol  the  sctiiery 
of  the  poem,  from  sketches  made  on  the  spot. 

II.  TENNYSON'S  THE  PRINCESS. 

The  notes  (50  pp.)  give  the  history  of  the  poem,  a//  the  readings  of  the 
earlier  editions,  selected  comments  by  the  best  English  and  American 
critics,  full  explanations  of  all  allusions,  &c.  The  illusiraiions  are  from 
the  elegant  Holiday  edition. 

III.  SELECT  POEMS  OF  TENNYSON. 

Including  the  Lady  of  Shalott,  the  Miller's  Daughter,  (Euone,  the  Lotos- 
Eaters,  The  Palace  of  Art,  A  Dream  of  Fair  Women, Morte  d'Arthur,  The 
Talking  Oak,  Ulvsses,  Locksley  Hall,  The  Two  Voices,  St.  Agnes'  Eve.  Sir 
Galahad,  The  Brook,  &c.  The  text  is  from  the  latest  English  edition  (ISSi). 
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explanatory  and  critical  comments.  The  illustrations  are  of  high  char- 
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IV.  SCOTT'S  MARMION. 

With  copious  Notes  and  introductory  matter.  The  text  is  now  correctly 
printed ybr  the  first  time. 

V.  THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  TENNYSON.    (In  Pkess.) 

VI.  SELECT    POEMS    OF    TENNYSON.     Second  Part.     (In  Press.) 


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THE     PRINCESS. 

The  most  famous  poem  of  Alfked,  Loud  Tennyson.  With  120 
new  and  beautiful  Illustrations. 

"  The  most  superb  book  of  the  season.  The  exquisite  binding  makes  a  fit 
casket  for  Tennyson's  enchanting  '  Princess.'  ^''  —  Hartford  Journal. 

THE     LADY     OF     THE     LAKE. 

A  superb  fine-art  edition,  with  120  Illustrations.  The  choicest  edition 
of  Scott's  wonderful  poem  of  Scottish  chivalry. 

*'  On  page  after  page  are  seen  the  great  dome  of  Ben-an  rising  in  mid-air,  huge 
Ben-venue  throwing  his  shadowed  masses  upon  the  lakes,  and  the  long  heights  of 
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LUCILE. 

By  Owen  Meredith.     With  160  Illustrations. 
The  high  peaks  of  the  Pyrenees,  the  golden  valleys  of  the  Rhineland, 
and  the  battle-swept  heights  of  the  Crimea. 

"  This  new  edition  is  simply  perfect  —  paper,  type,  printing,  and  especially  the 
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MARMION. 
With  more  than  100  Illustrations,  and  Borders. 
"  Wild  Scottish  beauty.     Never  had  a  poem  of  stately  and  immortal  beauty  a 
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AND    BUILDING    NEWS. 

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